War Wounds
by MissyMo2005
Summary: A knock on the door in the middle of the night delivers the news Charles has been praying he won't recieve.
1. Chapter 1

If the cold air hadn't woken him up the second he'd opened the door, then the two somber faces staring back at him certainly had. A knock on the door at midnight was never going to end in something good, but somehow he still hadn't prepared himself for the fact that this could happen. When he'd said goodbye to Molly at Brize Norton that day, there was a tiny little part of him that hadn't wanted to let go of her incase she didn't come back. The rest of him hadn't even considered the possibility that something bad might happen to her- in his mind Molly Dawes was invincible.

"Sir." He barely registered what the man in front of him was saying, the dizzying reality hitting him that these two men were here because something was seriously wrong. "There's been an incident involving Private Dawes. She was flown back to Camp Bastian and is stable at the moment. They're be flying her back to the UK as we speak."

He nodded, his mouth unable to form any kind of words. Molly, his Molly, was lying in a hospital bed all alone in another country where he couldn't get to her. He wanted to ask what had happened, what her injuries were, but he knew from experience they wouldn't be able to tell him. They were simply there to deliver the message.

His thoughts went to smurfs mum. She'd been standing exactly where he was now when she'd got the news about both of her boys, and one of them hadn't come home. It had been the beginning of the end of her world, and he didn't want to consider the fact that the same thing might be about to happen to thought of seeing Molly come off that plane in a coffin was enough to make his knees buckle. Why hadn't he stopped her going out there again? He'd encouraged her to take another tour, not wanting to hold her back. The thought that she might not come back to him had never even crossed his mind.

He could suddenly understand exactly what Rebecca had been talking about. She'd said she cringed every time the phone rang or someone knocked on the door, praying it wasn't someone coming to tell her that her husband had been killed, and at the time he'd shrugged it off wondering why she worried so much. But now the situation had been reversed and he could see it through her eyes.

And Sam, his dear little Sam who'd fallen in love with Molly just as much as he had. How was he ever going to explain it to him if something happened to Molly? They'd only been talking a couple of days ago about how excited Sam was that Molly would be home in just over a month. They'd been making plans for things for the three of them to do, he couldn't even bear to think about the fact that they might not get to do any of them.

He'd moved around the house in a daze after that, grabbing some of his and Molly's things and shoving them in to a bag. As he went back in to the kitchen he caught sight of the calendar that was hanging from the fridge, where he'd been crossing off the days until Molly came home with Sam, a photo of the three of them hanging just above it.

The two hour drive the the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was absolute torture. He'd left so early the roads were virtually deserted, but it still seemed to take a lifetime. He needed to see her, with his own eyes, to hear her tell him to piss off and stop worrying. Then he could believe that she was going to be okay. Until then he didn't dare to get his hopes up.

He'd been sitting in the waiting room for around ten minutes when the ambulance finally arrived. He held his breath as they wheeled her down the corridor towards him, bracing himself for what was to come. He'd got no idea how bad the injuries were, the nurses at the hospital hadn't been able to give him any more information, he didn't even know if she was conscious.

As they wheeled her past him with a flurry of doctors and nurses surrounding the bed, he caught a glimpse of her dark hair, and then she was gone again. He was left watching through the window, trying to make out what the doctors were saying as they transferred her over on to the waiting hospital bed and began hooking her up to the various machines. She wasn't conscious, he could see the doctor stood at the head of the bed hooking her up to a ventilator to help with her breathing.

"Captain James?" He spun around to find a young nurse smiling sympathetically at him. "She asked the medics as Bastian to make sure they kept this safe, she wanted to make sure it got back to you." The nurse said, holding up the necklace she'd worn around her neck as she'd said goodbye to him- the engagement ring he'd given her before she left still hanging from the chain.

"Thank you." He choked, his fingers clasping around it tightly. "How is she doing?"

"She's stable." The nurse smiled. "You can go in and see her now they're finished, the doctor can explain everything to you then." She opened the door and gestured for him to go inside.

The first thing he noticed was how small and fragile she looked laying there, the bed seeming to dwarf her. In the background the steady humming and beeping of the machines and the quiet hiss of the ventilator as it pumped air in to her lungs.

"She's sustained some major injuries." The doctor said quietly, his face was anything but reassuring. "There's a gunshot wound to the neck, and two to her abdomen. She was incredibly lucky she didn't bleed out there and then. They've sedated her for the journey back, so she'll be out of it for a few hours yet but then she should wake up gradually. I'll come back and check on her in a bit, but I'll give you some time alone." He said, flashing a sympathetic smile at Charles before leaving the room.

"Thanks." He mumbled, his hand wiping roughly at his face as he suddenly realised he was crying. He pulled the chair up to the side of her bed, one hand grasping hold of hers and the other gently reaching for her face. She was still covered in dust and grime from the afghan desert, a neat row of stitches sitting just above her left eyebrow and he could see where the blood had dried in to her hair.

"I'm here Molly." He whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry this has taken me so long to get around to posting, hopefully it'll be worth the wait! Let me know what you think!_

"Charles." He blinked sleepily as someone shook him awake.

"Belinda?" He cringed as he stretched his neck, falling asleep in the chair hadn't done his back any good at all.

"I came as soon as I could." She said quietly, glancing over at her daughter who was still laying motionless on the bed. "I couldn't believe it when they knocked on the door." She shook her head.

Charles reached out and squeezed her arm. "Me neither. But they said she's doing well, they took her for some more scans earlier, I think they're just waiting for the results to come back." He glanced down at his hand, still intertwined with Molly's.

"Did they tell you what happened?" She asked, pulling up a chair on the other side of the bed. "All they'd tell me was there'd been an incident."

He shook his head. "That's exactly what they told me, I'll make a few calls, see if anyone knows anything."

"Thanks Charles." She said, with a sad smile, as he pushed his chair back and headed for the door.

He cast a quick look back over his shoulder at Molly, who was still motionless on the bed, her chest rising and falling as the ventilator pushed air in to her lungs. Her Mum was clasping her hand, talking to her in a hushed voice that he couldn't quite hear.

What he would give for her to sit up and tell the both of them to shut up and stop being so soppy. The waiting was unbearable.

He wandered in the direction of the canteen, getting himself a coffee and sitting down by the window. He wanted to give Molly's mum a few minutes alone with her, but he wasn't sure how long he could sit there without being with her. At least from beside her bed he could hear the beeping of the machines and see the rise and fall of her chest. The waiting was agonising.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, a lump forming in his throat as he saw the screensaver. It was a picture of Molly and Sam taken Christmas morning. The two of them grinning ridiculously wearing matching Santa hats, he could've sworn molly was more excited than sam that morning.

He held the phone up to his ear, listening as it rang twice before it was answered. "Sir, sorry to be calling you. It Charles James." He said, his voice uncertain. Part of him wanted to know what had happened out there, but a smaller part of him wondered if he was better off not knowing.

"I was just about to call you." The major said. "I just heard about Private Dawes. How's she doing?"

"She's not woken up yet." He answered, forcing himself to keep his voice level. "She's a mess. What happened out there?"

There was a brief hesitation, and he thought for a second that he wasn't going to be able to tell him anything. Then, letting out a quiet sigh his former boss reluctantly answered the question. "From what I've heard Charles, it was bad. They were deployed on a mission, it was supposed to be secret but there's obviously a leak out there somewhere because they were ambushed. By all accounts a group of insurgents were waiting for them. Two others in her platoon were shot, she was trying to drag one of them back to safety when she was shot."

Charles took an unsteady breath, his hand trembling as he held the phone up to his ear. He could picture it now, and for a moment it was as though he was back in Afghanistan himself, watching Molly crawl through the bloody minefield to try and get to Smurf. As she went up on that winch he'd been convinced he'd been about to watch her get taken out by a sniper. She'd been lucky that day, and by the sounds of it luck had been on her side yet again.

"The other two?" He asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Critical, but stable. Thanks to her actions."

"Thank you Sir." He said slowly, not knowing what else to say.

"If there's anything I can do Charles, please do call me." His former boss said. "I'll let you get back to her. If I hear anything else I'll let you know." And with that the phone went dead.

Taking a moment to pull himself together he grabbed the coffee he'd promised Molly's mother and headed back up to her room.

"Here." He said, passing the coffee to Belinda as he walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down. "Any change at all?"

Belinda shook her head, sipping at the coffee. "Did you manage to find out what happened?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

Charles nodded hesitantly, wondering if Molly's mother actually needed to hear this. "They were ambushed, she was trying to get to two of her fellow soldiers who'd been injured and drag them back to safety when they shot her." He said simply.

Belinda was silent for what seemed like a long time, clutching her coffee cup as she looked at her daughter, before she looked back up at Charles. "This probably sounds stupid, but I almost feel like I don't know this Molly... The Molly I know used to go out and get pissed with her mates and spend her weekends laying around the house with a hangover and arguing with her dad. When she came home and announced she was going off to join the army I thought... Well I don't know what I thought to be honest. And then seeing her in that uniform, she looks so much older and grown up- she's like an entirely different person. And then when she told us she was going off to Afghanistan... I mean obviously I knew it was a war zone out there, but I don't know something in me just never really believed that she'd be right in amongst it all on the front line. I just never believed that anything could happen to her. I thought she'd be out there putting plasters on people's grazes and things like that... Not getting shot." She bit her lip, trying not to cry.

Charles smiled sympathetically. "She's changed a lot, even since I first met her." He said with a fond smile. "She was a gobby little thing when she first turned up, and I can remember thinking that she wasn't going to be good enough, that she was going to do nothing but cause problems. But she really proved me wrong. I owe her my life, I was lucky that she was there. She's an incredible woman your daughter, and an equally incredible soldier. I'm so lucky to have met her."

The tears she'd been holding back spilled down her cheeks. "I'm glad she met you Charles. I know Dave gives her a hard time- saying she's getting ideas above her station and that she's not good enough for you. He wasn't happy and supportive about her going in to the army- thinks it's a mans job. But if she hadn't made that decision and she hadn't met you then I don't even want to think about where she might've ended up."

"You know, if she wakes up and hears us two being all soppy then we'll never hear the end of this." He laughed quietly.

Belinda smiled, wiping her tears from her eyes. "You've got that right. I'm sure she'll be putting us all in our place again soon enough."

"You know it." Charles smiled, taking Molly's hand in his own and squeezing it tightly.


	3. Chapter 3

As he jolted awake, eyes squinting in the dim light of the hospital room, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.

"No... No... Please... I'm sorry." Molly was mumbling, her arms thrashing around and a deep frown on her forehead.

"Molly." He out a hand on her shoulder gently. He didn't know what to do. She was obviously having some kind of nightmare but he didn't want to shake her to wake her up for fear or hurting her. "Molly, wake up."

"Please, please don't do this." She sobbed, her breath catching in her throat.

"Molly!" He tried again.

This time her eyes flew open and she panted as she tried to catch her breath. The look of panic on her face was heart breaking.

"It's okay Molly. Your safe. You're in the hospital, everything's okay. Your safe here." He said as reassuringly as he could.

"What?" She mumbled, still panting as she struggled to catch her breath. Her brain was foggy, she'd got no idea what he was talking about or if this was even real. Maybe it was just another one of those weird dreams she'd been having.

"Deep breaths." He reminded her, pressing the call bell beside the bed. "It's okay."

She forced herself to focus on him, sucking in a deep breath only to cry out as a sharp pain ripped through her stomach. "It hurts." She sobbed, gasping for breath as he stood helpless.

"Is everything okay?" The nurse asked, walking in to the room.

"She can't catch her breath." Charles answered quickly, beginning to panic a little.

"Molly, listen to me." The nurse said slowly. "You're having a panic attack. I know it hurts, but I need you to breath as deep as you can for me... That's it, nice and slow." She turned and smiled reassuringly at Charles. "Why don't you come and sit with her? I'll be just outside if you need me." She turned and left the room as Charles perched on the edge of the chair beside the bed.

He took her hand gently in his own, almost afraid to touch her. He'd never seen her look so fragile, or so terrified. He felt completely helpless- if he could swap places with her he'd do it in a heartbeat- but this time he was on the other side of it.

Within a couple of minutes her eyes quickly drooped shut again,and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He'd been so focused on her physical injuries that the state of mind she might be in when she finally woke up hadn't even crossed his mind. He'd seen some fantastic soldiers totally ruined by the effect what they'd seen had on them. He just hoped the same thing wasn't about to happen yo his Molly.

His phone ringing cut through his thoughts as he fumbled to silence it before it woke Molly. The sight of Rebecca's name on the screen was enough to make him groan. She sure knew how to pick her moments.

"Hello?" He answered, keeping his voice hushed so he wouldn't wake Molly.

"Where the bloody hell are you Charles? I've been stood on the doorstep with your son for 20 minutes waiting for you to show up!" Rebecca hissed down the phone at him. She was livid, he could hear it in her voice.

"It's Saturday isn't it?" It suddenly clicked in his brain why his ex wife was standing on his doorstep. Shit.

"Well done." She hissed. "I swear to god Charles if you've been out and got drunk and forgotten about Sam..."

"It's Molly." He interrupted, stopping her threats in their tracks. "They knocked on the door and I just sort of forgot everything in my rush to get to the hospital." Poor sam, he felt awful. What kind of father forgot about their own son?

"What happened?" Rebecca asked softly. He could tell she was trying to keep her voice down so Sam wouldn't hear her.

"The section got ambushed. I don't really know much." He sighed. "They just showed up on the doorstep in the middle of the night and said there'd been an incident. I panicked and drove straight here. I'm so sorry, I just lost track of what day it was. I should've called you."

"Is she going to make it?" Rebecca asked hesitantly.

"It's going to take a while, but it's looking good." He told her.

The sigh of relief she let out made it clear that she'd been thinking the same thing as he had- Sam would be devastated if anything happened to Molly. His son had been inconsolable as Molly had said her goodbyes before she left, making her promise she'd be back home before his birthday.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, I had no idea." Rebecca said after a brief pause. "If there's anything I can do..."

"Thanks." He said, his eyes flickering back to Molly. "I'll let you know if anything changes. Tell Sam I'm sorry."

"I will. What do I tell him though? I don't want him to worry..."

Charles nodded. "Just tell him I had to work but I'll call him later. I want to find out from the doctor what's actually going on before we tell him anything. Hopefully she'll be feeling better and he can come and visit." He was waiting for her to object. She'd been reluctant to allow Sam to visit him in hospital after he'd been shot, never mind allowing him to visit Molly, but she didn't argue.

"I'll call you later." She said. "Give Molly our best." And with that she hung up the phone.

Stuffing his phone back in to his pocket and slumped back in to the chair, watching her as she slept peacefully- for the moment at least.


	4. Chapter 4

"How're you feeling?" He asked as she blinked at him sleepily.

"Like I've been hit by a bleedin' bus." She muttered. She started to stretch her aching limbs without thinking, and hissed in pain.

"I'd stay still if I was you." Charles commented sympathetically.

"Copy that." She muttered, relaxing back against the bed. "How bad is it?" She asked hesitantly, looking at his face to see his reaction.

"One to the neck and two to the stomach." He said slowly.

She raised her hand up to her neck, gently touching the dressing that stuck to the skin. The memory of the searing pain as the bullet had sliced through the skin flashing to the front of her brain.

"It's ok." He said quickly, grabbing her hand. "The doctors say you're healing well. You'll be back to normal before you know it."

She forced what she hoped looked vaguely like a smile. "You know me, anything to get a couple of weeks off. I was just desperate to get home and see you."

He forced a smile in return and she could see his eyes scanning her face, looking at each individual scratch and graze and wondering how it had got there. She found herself looking back at him more closely, looking at each new crease that had formed on his skin. The way the dark circles lingered under his eyes and the stubble on his jaw from where he hadn't shaved for a few days.

"How are you holding up?" She asked him.

He smiled at her more genuinely this time. "Some things never change do they? You're laying there in a hospital bed having been shot three times and you're asking me how I'm feeling?" He laughed.

She smiled, careful not to let herself laugh because she knew it was going to hurt. "You know what I mean. I can't imagine what I would've done if they'd turned up and told me something had happened to you."

"It was a long drive here, let's just say that." He mumbled after a brief pause. "But I feel a lot better now you're awake."

He watched for a second as she seemed to retreat in to herself, her mind thinking back to how she'd felt laying there in the afghan dirt- feeling herself losing consciousness and knowing there was nothing she could do to fight it off. She'd been convinced she was going to die. She'd a most resigned herself to her fate, accepted the fact that she'd never see Charles again, or watch her mum and dad argue. That she'd never get to spend another Christmas with Sam, or finally buy a house like her and Charles had been talking about.

"What day is it?" She asked suddenly, snapping out of her memories. She'd suddenly realised she'd got no concept of time. She couldn't remember if she'd been shot yesterday or a week ago.

"Err.. Its Friday I think?" He said uncertainly. "I've kind of lost all track of time." She could practically see home trying to count the days backwards in his head.

"It can't be been a week already surely?" She frowned. "I can remember sitting there eating my coco pops while the lads were pissing around and then going to get my gear ready. Everything's kinda fuzzy after that." She wasn't about to tell him the horrific clarity she could remember the actual shooting with.

"You've been awake a few times but you probably can't remember, you were pretty out of it most of the time with all the drugs. This is the most sense you've made for a while... But then again you've never exactly made much sense to me." He joked.

Without a thought she went to punch his arm playfully, hissing in pain as it pulled on her stitches.

"Have you actually been home at all since I got here?" She asked him. She knew from his dishevelled appearance the answer was going to be no.

He looked at her guiltily before he slowly shook his head. "I didn't want you to wake up and there to be no one here. And besides, if anything had happened and I hadn't have been here, you know I would never have forgiven myself."

"I'm glad you were here." She said softly, taking his hand. "But you really ought to go home and have a decent sleep and a shower... Maybe even a change of clothes?"

"A man sits by your bedside for a week and then when you finally decide to wake up you insult him? How lovely." He joked, and she could see that sparkle she loved back in his eyes as he started to relax a little. The Molly Dawes that he'd waved goodbye to at Brize Norton was coming back to him, even with her injuries and all the pain she was still taking the piss out of him and cracking jokes.

God he'd missed her.

"How about I go back, have a sleep and shower and then bring sam down to visit for a little while? He's been driving Rebecca mad begging to come and see you. She as complaint that he likes you more than he likes her." He laughed at the memory of her moaning at him down the phone.

"I'd love that." She smiled. She'd been looking forward to getting home on her R&R to spend some time with Charles and Sam. "I've really missed him." She smiled, thinking back on their Sunday afternoon skype calls where Sam had begged her to come home because Charles wasnt as much fun as her.

"I'll do that then." He smiled, getting up out of the chair with a groan. She was right he definitely needed a few hours sleep and a decent meal. Plus that would give him a chance to fill his mother in on everything before she decided to drive over there to check on Molly herself. She'd been less than impressed with his updates by text. "Are you sure you'll be okay here on your own?" He asked, suddenly hesitating.

,"Go!" She smiled. "I'm not exactly on my own am I?" She said, gesturing to the doctors and nurses that were milling around in the hallways outside.

"I'm going, I'm going." He laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He bent down and gently kissed her forehead before heading for the door. "I love you." He called from the door way.

"Love you." She called back, settling herself back in to the pillows to get some more sleep while he was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey Guys! So this chapter is mainly going to be Molly talking Charles through what happened since lots of people have asked for this. Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think!_

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"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking at her curiously. Somewhere between the nurse coming in to change her dressings and her falling asleep, Charles had re appeared in his spot beside her bed- freshly shaven and in clean clothes. The dark circles were still under his eyes and she could see that slight frown he always had when he was worrying about something.

"Sore." She told him. "But I'm okay."

"I'll go get the nurse." He said, already halfway out of his seat before she could shake her head.

"Seriously, I'm fine. Just sit back down. That poor woman was only in here ten minutes ago." She snapped at him. "Sorry, I'm just tired." She apologised quickly as she saw the look of hurt flash across his face.

"No it's okay. I just feel so helpless." He muttered, and she wasn't really sure if he was talking to her or himself.

"These things happen. There was nothing you could've done even if you had been there." She reminded him gently. She extended her hand towards him a little, careful not to stretch too far and pull her stitches.

"I told you to take that tour..." He mumbled, taking her hand in his own.

"When have you ever known me to do something I didn't want to?" She laughed quietly. "You and I both know, that as much as I love you, once I'd made up my mind you couldn't have changed it one way or the other."

"You've always been stubborn, I'll give you that." He said with a half smile, before his face turned serious again. "When they knocked on the door, I just thought of Smurf's Mum- and the thought of never seeing you again... I don't think I've ever really appreciated how Rebecca must have felt staying at home with Sam while I went off on tour until now."

Molly nodded slightly. She couldn't even begin to imagine it. She'd never been the one that had been left behind. "What did they actually tell you?" She asked, giving in to her curiosity. She'd got vague memories of someone telling her that they'd contact her family to tell them what had happened and so they could be there to meet her when she got to the hospital, but she couldn't really remember much else. One minute she'd been face down in the dirt and what seemed like the next minute she'd woken up in a hospital bed with Charles beside her.

"Same thing they always say." He sighed. "That there'd been an incident, you were stable and they'd be flying you home. It's not their fault, the people they send out to tell you haven't got a bloody clue what's happened- they're just there to deliver a message- but not knowing if you'd tripped and broken something, been shot or even worse.." He trailed off and shook his head. "Until you were actually here in front of me, I didn't dare let myself hope too much."

"You'll have to do better than a few bullet holes if you're hoping to get rid of me." She joked, attempting to lighten the mood. She'd never been good with situations like this- she wanted to somehow make him feel better, to remind him that in no way was this his fault- she couldn't find the words to say it, so she gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"What actually happened out there Molly?" He asked after a few minutes silence, eventually plucking up the courage to ask the question he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer too.

"How much have you already heard? I know what you and Major Beck are like, I'll bet you were straight on that phone to extract the information out of him." She smiled, looking at him knowingly.

"Guilty." He confessed. "But I need to hear it from you."

She was quiet for a second, looking down at her hands to avoid meeting his eyes. "I can't remember it that clearly." She lied, wanting to spare him the details. "They sent us all out on this mission, last minute thing that they just kind of sprung on us out of no where. The boys were all excited, you know what those bloody idiots are like... It was pitch black, and we were all huddled in this little ditch, waiting for the signal to go- and then I don't really know what happened. They just came out of nowhere, someone must've told them where we were because they knew exactly where we'd be... It all just happened so fast, we thought we had them all, and then we were moving back to shelter and regroup and there was a gunshots and I couldn't see where they were coming from. Then Ben just dropped to the floor in front of me- they'd got him right in the thigh and I was trying to patch him up enough to stop him bleeding out before we could get him out of there." She stopped and took a breath, looking up at Charles. "Then I heard them shouting man down and Ben was begging me to leave him there and go and help the other poor sod... He was just laying there, about fifty meters ahead of us and we could all see the blood pissing out of his neck where they'd shot him. There was shots flying around all over the place by that point and we were waiting for the air support to turn up, but we all knew the poor sod was never going to make it that far... I was crawling out to try and get to him, thinking maybe I could pull him back somewhere a bit safer... He was still bloody conscious when I got there, cracking jokes about me going to all that effort to spend time with him alone... I'd got my finger shoved in the hole to stop the bleeding and I was hauling him along the ground to try and get him behind this rock to protect us both a little bit... and then I don't really know what happened. I think I must've passed out from the pain maybe? I can kinda remember being face down in the dirt and hearing the helicopters coming in... But after that I've got nothing."

Charles was sitting there, a little shell shocked by the story she'd just told him. He knew she'd glossed over the finer details of things to try and spare him the pain of what she'd been through- but even with the edited highlights he could picture it as vividly as if he'd been there with her.

"What happened to the boys?" She asked, and he could hear the fear in her voice. "Are they...?" If they hadn't made it she wasn't even sure she wanted to hear the answer. She was their medic and they'd been relying on her to have their backs- and then she'd let them down and bloody got herself shot- if something had happened to either of them she knew she'd never forgive herself.

"I don't know." He said after a few seconds pause. "The last time I spoke to Major Beck they were trying to get them stable enough to transport them home. I can make some calls and find out for you though. I promised him I'd call and let him know once you were awake so he could get the news to the rest of your section."

The thought that they were all still out there made her feel sick to her stomach. Whatever that mission had been about, there was no doubt that they'd be sent back out again to finish what they'd started. But this time she wouldn't be by their side, and the thought terrified her. She'd let them down. Be brilliant- that's what Charles had told her as him and Sam waved her off at Brize Norton- and she'd been anything but that. If he ever found out he was going to be so disappointed in her.

"Molly? What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Charles asked, interrupting her thoughts. She could tell by the look on his face that she was scaring him- she didn't think she'd ever seen him look so worried, even when they'd been in Afghanistan together and had been under fire he'd stayed totally calm.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about the boys." She mumbled. "Have you called my Mum?" She asked him, desperate to change the subject. She just wanted to put it to the back of her mind and lock those memories away for the time being. She knew Charles was going to have more questions about what had happened- he knew enough about her Army life to question things like this- where as her parents would just be grateful she was still in one piece and she was back with them.

"I'll go give her a quick call now, I did speak to her last night but she was trying to get the kids ready for bed- wasn't really very good timing. She said she was hoping to come back up with your Nan either today or tomorrow so I'll go find out what she's up too. Why don't you get some rest?" He suggested.

She nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I never knew that doing nothing could be this tiring." She yawned.

"Just you wait until you're out of here and back on your feet! Think of all those PT session we'll be doing to get you back up to fitness." He laughed as he headed for the door.

She flashed a smile back at him, letting her head sink back in to the pillows as he closed the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

"You ready to get going?" He asked, making her jump a little as he suddenly appeared in the doorway.

She nodded, grimacing as she pulled the hem of her jumper down. Even getting dressed so that she could finally go home with Charles had been exhausting. She wasn't even convinced she was going to be able to get off the bed, never mind make it all the way out to the car park. She hauled herself up off the bed, grabbing hold of the end of the bed as the room around her spun and she wobbled unsteadily.

"It's okay, I've got you." Charles reassured, appearing beside her and putting his arm around her to hold her up. "Maybe you should sit back down and I'll go get a nurse." He was giving her that look he'd been giving her for the last three weeks- a mixture of fear and worry.

"Stop freaking out, I'm fine!" She snapped back at him, gripping on to his arm tightly so she didn't end up on the floor. "I've hardly moved for two weeks, I think I'm allowed to be a bit unsteady. Let's just go before they change their mind, okay?"

"Molly.." He frowned. The little bit of colour she'd got in her face had drained and he could see the tears forming in her eyes as she bit her lip to stop herself crying out in pain.

"Please." She whispered, her voice cracking. "I just want to go home."

He let out a sigh, which let her know she'd won this particular battle. "Fine. But you're going to rest, and if you're in any pain or not feeling well at all then I'm taking you straight back to the hospital. Deal?" He gave her one of those looks that he usually reserved for when Sam was misbehaving.

She nodded in agreement. She'd agree to anything to get out of that claustrophobic little hospital room that was starting to feel more and more like a prison each day. "Let's go." She said, taking a hesitant step forward, leaning almost her entire body weight on Charles for support.

It was slow progress, but they'd eventually made it out to the car. She'd had to bite her lip to stop herself screaming out in pain as Charles had more or less lifted her in to the passenger seat of the car. It was the first time she'd actually tried sitting upright and she shifted uncomfortably as she felt the wounds on her stomach pull.

Luckily for her, Charles didn't seem to notice as he disappeared around the other side of the car and slid in to the drivers seat. He was quiet, as though he was preoccupied with something, as he started the car and headed out to the motorway. If she was honest she was thankful that he wasn't trying to make conversation. Her head was spinning and the movement of the car was making her so nauseous that she didn't think she'd have been capable of holding a conversation with him if he tried. Instead she let her eyes close and pretended to be asleep.

"Molly, wake up." She blinked sleepily as Charles gently shook her shoulder. "We're home." She'd obviously fallen asleep somewhere along the journey, because sure enough they were parked outside their house in Bath. "Come on, let's get you in to bed." He suggested, jumping out of the car and coming around to the other side of the car to help her out.

Much to her relief, she didn't feel anywhere near as sick as she had done when she'd left the hospital, although the walk up the path in to the house felt like miles. As she walked through the door she couldn't help but think about how strange it was that nothing had changed in the months that she'd been gone. Everything was more or less where she'd left it the day Charles had driven her to Brize Norton. The tin of paint that she'd asked him to paint the hallway with before she came back was still sat at the foot of the stairs, unopened. Her coat still hanging from the bannister. It was as though time had stood still from the moment she had boarded that plane. But yet she felt so different.

"Do you want to get in to bed?" Charles asked, snapping her out of it.

She glanced upwards at the stairs briefly, then shook her head. There was no way on earth she was going to make it up there right now, even if Charles more or less carried her. She shook her head. "Sofa?" It could only be ten steps in to the living room and to the sofa from there. She could manage that she was fairly certain.

Charles nodded, holding her steady as she made her way through and flopped down on the sofa, fidgeting a little as she tried to make herself comfortable. He disappeared for a second, before reappearing with a glass of water and some painkillers which she gulped down eagerly.

"Rebecca was going to pop in with Sam later, but I think I'll give her a call and tell her to hold off for a bit." He mumbled, and she wasn't really sure if he was talking to her or himself.

"Please don't do that." She protested. "I want to see him. Just ten minutes, please Charles. I'm not an idiot I'm not going to try and play football with him or anything." She joked.

He looked at her for a moment, thinking. She looked a mess, she needed to rest, but he also knew that she wasn't going to give in until she'd got what she wanted.

"Fine." He sighed. "Ten minutes." He agreed, muttering under his breath as he went off to call Rebecca. Molly relaxed back against the sofa as the painkillers started to take effect. She'd missed Sam so much while she'd been away. She'd hardly managed to speak to him at all- trying to get the times she was available to Skype to coincide with the times that Charles had Sam had been virtually impossible. So instead she'd had to settle for getting the occasional letter through from him and sometimes a picture that he'd drawn for her too.

Charles shut the kitchen door behind himself, so Molly wouldn't hear him. He'd picked up his phone to call Rebecca to find three missed calls from Major Beck. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good news. Reluctantly, he called him back, wondering what the bad news was going to be.

"Charles, I was hoping you'd call back soon." The major said as he answered the phone.

"Is everything okay Sir?" Charles asked hesitantly. His mind was running through all the potential scenarios, all the things that could've happened for the Major to be calling him.

"I phoned the hospital, looking for Private Dawes, they said she'd gone home this morning?"

"That's right, I picked her up this morning. We've not been back long. I think I probably missed your call while I was driving." Charles said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Molly hadn't appeared behind him.

"I was going to go to the hospital to give her this news myself, I can still come and tell her if you'd rather not, I'll leave it up to you Charles."

"What news?" Charles interjected as the other man paused for breath.

"Private Ben Smith died yesterday in the hospital." The Major said quietly. "He had an infection, they did everything they could, but unfortunately he didn't make it. The funeral will be next Friday."

Charles was silent for a few seconds, stunned in to silence. He could remember meeting the guys from Molly's section as they'd left. Ben had reminded him of Smurf a bit, the class clown always joking around. He'd said his goodbyes to his wife and two children, then come over and started taking the piss out of Molly for being soppy with him and Sam.

How on earth was he going to tell Molly this? He knew she'd blame herself straight away, that she'd blame herself for leaving Ben there and going to help the other casualty. Nothing him, or anyone else, could say was going to change that. It was just the way she was.


	7. Chapter 7

Charles stood in the kitchen, staring out the window, for an immeasurable amount of time after he'd hung up the phone. He was going to have to tell Molly, he just didn't even know where to begin. She seemed so fragile, both physically and mentally, like the smallest thing might cause her to fall to pieces. The longer he left it the worse it was going to be, especially if she found out he'd been keeping it from her.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of screaming from the other room. He was across the kitchen and in to the living room in three strides.

"Molly! Molly, wake up." He brushed her hair out of her face, squeezing her arm gently. "It's okay, your safe. It's okay." He said soothingly. For a second he was taken back to the few months Sam had suffered with terrible nightmares, he'd woken up two or three times a night to the sound of him screaming.

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest and the pain ripped through her stomach as she struggled to control her breathing.

"It's okay, I'm here." Charles said softly, sitting on the floor beside the sofa. "Deep breaths, that's it. Nice and slowly."

She could feel her eyes filling with tears as she followed his instructions, breathing in time with him. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, roughly wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You don't have to be sorry." He said, shifting his legs under him in an attempt to get comfortable. "Do you want to talk about it? We've all been there Molly. The things you see and do over there, most people couldn't even begin to imagine it. It takes it toll on anyone, and it's okay. When I came home from my first tour, I was a mess. And I couldn't explain it to Rebecca, it wasn't her fault she just couldn't understand any of it, and I tried to bottle it up and just not think about it because I didn't want her to worry about me, but it's not good for you."

"It just seemed different this time, I can't explain it." She mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in an attempt to sit herself up a bit more. "I just sort of assumed I'd be fine, the last two tours were. And then I was sitting there on the roof of the toilet block one night with my cup of tea, and I was just staring up at the stars. I got thinking about smurf and his mum, and my mum and dad and you and Sam... What would happen if anything happened to me... I went out there feeling like I'd got something to prove, I wanted to prove all those people who thought I was only there because of you wrong... But I'm not sure it was worth it."

"You've more than proved yourself Molly, there's no one out there who thinks that you got there on anything other than your own merit." Charles shot to her defence straight away.

Molly cringed, thinking of a way to change the subject. She wasn't about to tell Charles about what had happened between her and her new captain, she knew him well enough to know he'd be straight on the phone and would probably have managed to end the mans career before dinner.

"Did someone say something to you?" Charles asked, suddenly realising Molly had gone quiet- a sure sign she was uncomfortable.

"No." The words shot out of her mouth. She wasn't sure why she was even trying to defend her captain. She knew he'd done nothing to deserve any kind of loyalty from her. Maybe she should let Charles take him down a peg or two. But for some reason she found herself unable to tell Charles what had happened.

"Molly, if something happened-" Charles started, his stern Captains voice suddenly coming out of nowhere.

She felt her cheeks flush, she'd never been any good at lying to him. The sound of the doorbell ringing made her flinch, but thankfully saved her from having to try and skirt round the truth of what had happened with Charles.

Charles swore under his breath. He'd totally forgotten that he was going to call Rebecca with everything that had happened. "That'll be Rebecca. I couldn't get a hold of her." He muttered, getting up to go to the door.

"Dad!" Sam shrieked in excitement as Charles opened the door. "Mum said Molly's home! Where is she?" He asked, his words hardly understandable through his excitement.

"She's on the sofa, but be careful Sam. She's not very well, you need to look after her, okay?" He said, catching Sam's shoulder to stop him running straight in to the living room and jumping on Molly.

Sam nodded eagerly, shrugging out of his grip and running in to the other room.

"How's she doing?" Rebecca asked, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Come in." Charles said, waving her through. "I'll make you a cup of tea, there not much point in you going anywhere, I don't think Molly is going to be up for a very long visit."

Rebecca nodded, trailing behind him as he went through to the kitchen and put the kettle on.

"I'll be honest with you here Charles, you look like crap." She frowned, peering around the door to check on Sam who was sat on the floor beside the sofa Molly was laying on, showing her something.

"Thanks." He attempted to joke, placing the two mugs down on the kitchen table and sitting down opposite his ex wife. "It's been a long three weeks." He admitted. "And I feel like it's only just beginning."

"How's she doing? I was surprised when you said you were bringing her home today." Rebecca asked.

"I'm not convinced it was the best move if I'm honest." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "She's in a lot of pain, but she won't admit it. She was adamant she wanted to come home though, and the doctors reluctantly agreed to it because she wouldn't settle well enough to rest while she was at the hospital, so I guess we'll just have to see how it goes." He left out the fact that he was too afraid to take his eyes off her for fear shed try and get up or do something which would cause herself more damage.

"I couldn't believe it when I called and you said what had happened." Rebecca said, pulling at a thread on her jumped. "I know I haven't exactly been the most supportive of you two, but I'm really glad that you've found someone you can be happy with, and Sam absolutely adores her." She said with a half smile.

"I think the feelings mutual there." He smiled, watching over Rebecca's shoulder as Molly and Sam chatted, catching up on everything that had happened in the months that she'd been gone.

"He keeps asking questions about what happened to Molly." Rebecca said, her voice suddenly turning serious. "I don't know what to tell him, I don't even know myself what happened to her."

He hesitated for a second, he hadn't even thought about the fact Sam might have questions. They'd had a huge calendar stuck on the wall crossing off the days until she was due home, at the start of the next year. Sam was clever enough to know that her being home early meant something had gone wrong.

"They were ambushed." He started slowly, taking a sip of his coffee. "I don't know the exact details, she's not really said much- I don't know if she can't remember or she just doesn't want to- but long story short, someone had told the enemy forces exactly where to find them. Two of the lads in her section got shot, and Molly got shot herself three times in trying to get to them to help them. She almost bled to death there and then, but by some miracle they managed to medivac her out and get her stable enough to fly her back home. I couldn't believe it when they knocked on the door and told me, the thought had never even crossed my mind that something bad might happen when me and Sam were waving her off at Brize Norton."

Rebecca smiled at him sympathetically. "Now you're finally getting to see what it was like for me, staying at home with Sam every time you got deployed. It still makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it, standing there at Brize with you in all your uniform about to go and Sam a few weeks old in my arms, wondering if you'd be back in time for his first birthday, or if you'd even come back at all. I used to lay there at night wondering how I'd explain to him that his daddy was never coming home."

Charles reached across the table and gave her arm a quick squeeze. "I could never really understand it at the time, but now I do. I couldn't imagine having to tell Sam that Molly wasn't coming back... Speaking of which, we probably ought to go and interrupt him before he tires Molly out too much." He could see through the gap in the door that Sam was still babbling on excitedly about some thing or other while Molly's head had drooped back against the arm of the sofa and she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"We'll get out of your hair and let Molly get some rest." Rebecca said, standing up and walking towards the door. "If there's anything I can do though Charles, you know where I am. I know you've got your Mum and Dad and Molly's family, but don't be afraid to ask- okay?"

Charles nodded in agreement and she flashed him a quick smile before disappearing in to the living room to try and prize Sam away from Molly again.

~so I hope you all enjoyed this chapter? Just a quick question, would you like to see what happened between Molly and her new captain as a flashback, see her explaining it to Charles or both? Let me kmo what you think!~


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I've decided to show you what happened with Molly and her Captain while she was on tour in two ways. This chapter will be a flashback, which will show you some of what happened during her tour, then the next chapter will be her telling Charles the rest of what happened. I hope you all enjoy!**

FLASHBACK

Captain Daniel Walsh was an arrogant man, she'd realised that within five minutes of meeting him. It might've been the way he'd run his eyes up and down the length of her, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly, or the way he'd given her orders to do things that weren't in her job description just because he got a kick out of ordering them all around. Either way, it had taken her all of about five minutes to decide she disliked him.

She'd been so lucky to have Charles as her Captain on her first tour, she realised that now. She watched as her Captain leaned against container that housed his quarters, arms folded as he delivered yet another dressing down to two of the lads in her section. She could see from the look on Ben's face he was biting his tongue to stop himself saying something he shouldn't.

The continued to check her kit, keeping her head down in the hope he wouldn't come in there and start on her. The last few days she'd felt as though he'd been picking on her in particular, she couldn't quite work out what she'd done to warrant it, but then again he didn't seem to need a reason to do it. God she wished she was out here with Charles and Two section.

She'd briefly considered telling Charles what was going on when she Skyped him the other night. He'd kept asking her if she was okay, somehow managing to sense that she wasn't, even though there were thousands of miles between them. But she'd bitten her lip, told him she was just tired, because she knew he would try and help, he'd feel the need to fix it for her somehow. He'd mention it to one of his friends, and then before she knew it the whole section would hate her just as much as the Captain apparently did.

"So." Her head snapped round at the sound of her Captains voice in the entrance to her med tent.

"Sir." She said, nodding politely as she carried on checking her kit.

"So, a little birdy tells me you've got a bit of a thing for captains." He leered at her, walking in to the tent and sitting himself down on the bed.

She gripped the bandages she was packing a little tighter, not allowing herself to look up at him. Her other hand subconsciously went up to touch the silver ring that was hanging on a chain around her neck.

"I've got to hand it to you, it's a smart career move Dawes." He smirked. "Or should I call you James from now on? I mean someone like you, shacking up with likes of Charles James, none of us would ever have seen that coming. And look where it's got you too, a medal on your first tour and being considered for a promotion. Or are you screwing the major when Charles is away on tour too?"

She quickly zipped her bag shut, picking it up and placing it back on the shelf. She used the few seconds it gave her to take a deep breath and remind herself that although he was a massive cockwomble, unfortunately the man was still her superior.

"Is there anything I can help you with Sir?" She asked, turning to face him and forcing a smile. "It's just that I've got to do all the lads' check ups this afternoon and if I don't get a shift on I'll be lucky to get them all done before tea."

He lingered for a second, and she wondered if he was going to say something else, then he slid down off the bed and smirked at her again. "This conversation isn't over Dawes, I can't wait to find out what kind of reward I'm going to get for being your captain." And with that he was gone, leaving her standing alone in the med tent, her hands shaking slightly- and she couldn't work out if it was from anger of from fear of what might be to come.

The rest of the afternoon had, thankfully, passed in a blur. She had barely had any time to think about what her Captain had said, thanks to the fact she'd been working non stop. She was grateful for it though, because given the opportunity she probably would've been straight on the phone to Charles, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt he'd end the mans career over this.

As much as she wanted that to happen, she knew the lads would ask questions. They'd already spotted the ring hanging round her neck and started making jokes about who her fella might be. She'd smiled and shrugged it off when they'd jokingly asked her if she was screwing the boss and that was how she'd got to where she was. The way they'd howled with laughter, then made jokes about a cockney like her never being good enough for someone that high up the chain of command had made her keep her mouth shut. She knew they were only joking, and if she did actually tell them about Charles the odds were they wouldn't treat her any differently, but there was this little bit of her that feared that they might. And right now those lads were the only thing that was keeping her going through this awful bloody tour.

Well, that and the thought of getting home to Charles and Sam.


	9. Chapter 9

"What's happened?" Molly asked, struggling to push herself a little more upright. She was vaguely aware of the fact it was dark outside, she must have fallen asleep sometime after Sam and Rebecca had left. She was more concerned with the fact Charles was lurking in the doorway looking nervous. "Is everything okay? Has something happened to Sam?" She asked, her mind running through the possible scenarios. She could feel her heart rate picking up as she started to panic."

Charles shook his head, walking over to sit on the end of the sofa. "They're fine." He said, slowly. She could practically see his brain working as he tried to work out what to say next.

"For gods sake Charles, just spit it out!" She snapped, he was making her nervous now.

"I spoke to Major Beck earlier." He said slowly. "Ben died in the hospital yesterday, he'd contracted an infection. They did everything they could."

Molly sat silently, staring at him for a minute as she processed the information. She'd seen for her self how badly Ben had been injured. She'd watched as the blood had poured out of his body, running between her fingers as she had pressed down on it in a desperate attempt to stop the blood flow. But somehow, the thought that he might not actually survive had never seemed real to her, he'd somehow seemed immortal. The fact that he'd never be taking the piss out of her for being a cockney again just seemed so wrong.

"I just can't believe it." She mumbled eventually. "He was joking about wanting to be my bridesmaid at the bloody wedding the other day. Said he thought he'd got good enough legs to pull off a dress." It wasn't until she tasted the moisture on her lips she realised she'd started crying.

"By all accounts he was a good kid." Charles said, and the sad thing was he really was just a kid. He'd only just turned 21- he'd had his whole life stretching in front of him... Until suddenly he hadn't.

"He was a cheeky little shit." Molly said with a fond smile. "Drove me bloody mad the first few weeks, reminded me of smurf a bit. He was constantly needing me to patch up some kind of injury from where he'd been pissing around with the lads or playing football or something. The captain bloody hated him, which I think probably made the rest of us love Ben even more than we already did. The others used to laugh and say the captain had to schedule an extra ten minutes in to his day to scream at Ben about whatever he'd done wrong that day. There was always something with him. And I was always just waiting for him to snap back and really get himself in trouble. You could see him biting his tongue half the time."

"Sounds like he would've driven me insane if he'd been in my section, just like you did." Charles smiled.

"I think you would've liked him." Molly said. "He said he never could understand how a cockney like me didn't drive someone like you insane because he reckoned I got on his tits half the time." She laughed quietly, and he realised it was the first time he'd heard her laugh since she'd been back. "He was a good kid, I'll miss him."

"The funerals on Friday, I'm assuming you'll want to go?" She nodded, confirming what he already knew. "The rest of your section should be there too. They were already due back so they're coming home a couple of days early so they can be there."

"It'll be nice to see the boys again." She said, her mind already wondering if that meant that Captain Walsh would be there too, the thought made her feel a little sick. She couldn't help but wonder if they'd had a better Captain, someone who was actually interested in his job rather than just the power that came with it, if Ben might be flying home with the rest of his section like he should've been.

Charles hesitated for a second, wondering if he should tell Molly what else the major had said to him, or if that would tip her over the edge. She was going to see Bens family at the funeral and they'd tell her then, so he might as well warn her. "Bens Mum asked the Major to thank you too." He said, watching Molly's face.

"Thank me? Her sons dead!" Molly looked at him in confusion and he could see her getting teary. " I wasn't enough to save him."

"Because of what you did, risking your life to save him, they managed to get him back to the UK and he got to see his family again. He died at the hospital with his mum and dad and his sisters, rather than on the battlefield without ever getting to say good bye to them. And that's down to you Molly, you gave them the opportunity to see their son one last time and say their goodbyes, and they'll be thankful to you for that for the rest of their lives."

She didn't answer him, the tears that had been building finally breaking free. Charles moved to sit beside her, holding her tightly as she sobbed in to his shoulder.

"He was telling me about how much he was looking forward to going home and seeing his family just before we went out in that patrol." She choked out. "He'd missed them so much, I think being away from them was so much harder than he thought it was going to be, he used to sit on the roof of the shitter with me at night sometimes when neither of us could sleep. We'd have a cup of tea and I'd tell him about you and Sam and he'd tell me about his parents and his sister. He said I reminded him of his mother, the cheeky little shit, like I'm old enough for that." She wiped her eyes, pulling back fro, Charles a bit. "He was such a sweet lad, he was always there if I was having a bit of a rough day. I hope his mum knows what a good lad she raised."

"I've got her number written down somewhere." Charles said. "Major Beck said she'd like to meet you at some point before the funeral, they don't live that far from here actually. You don't have to if you don't feel up to it of course, but you could always give her a call and invite her over for a cup of tea. It might be nice to talk to her about him. I think they said the rest of your section are due back tomorrow too, so I'm sure the boys and your captain will want to see you at some point too, check up on you. It might do you good to have some visitors." He smiled.

Molly nodded, biting her lip. She was going to have to tell him the truth about what had happened but the question still remained of how.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm so so sorry about the delay with getting this up, things just got a bit crazy with Christmas and everything but I'll do my best to have another chapter for you by next week at the latest... enjoy!

"Molly." Charles hissed, crouching down beside her. She'd been asleep on the sofa most of the morning, and also for the majority of the last two days. He shook her shoulder gently to wake her. "Mols, wake up. You've got a visitor."

She blinked at him sleepily. "You said Sam couldn't come today." She frowned, trying to get her bearings and work out what time and day it actually was. Surely she couldn't have been asleep that long?

Charles nodded, watching her as the frown on her forehead deepened. She looked exhausted. Even though she'd been sleeping for the best part of eighteen hours a day the dark circles under her eyes still remained and now that her afghan tan had strayed to fade her skin was so pale it was almost translucent. "He is coming tomorrow, but Captain Walsh is here. Said he wanted to check in with you before the funeral. Isn't it nice of him to come all this way?"

Molly felt her body stiffen, the adrenaline rushing through her body suddenly waking her up. "Here's here? Now?" She asked, suddenly wondering how the hell she was going to get out of this. "Charles I really don't feel well enough to be..."

He stood up, not letting her finish. "He won't stay long, I'll just go and make a cup of tea. An hour tops." And before she could say anything else he'd opened the door and let her captain in before he disappeared off in to the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

Captain Walsh hesitated awkwardly in the door way for a moment, before sitting himself down in the arm chair that was opposite the sofa Molly was laying on.

"So, how are you doing with your recovery Dawes?" He asked after a hesitation. He looked awkward and uncomfortable sitting in her living room in his jeans and a hoodie. She thought to herself that he seemed smaller and perhaps less intimidating in this setting than when he'd cornered her behind the toilets at their camp.

"Getting there. It's slow progress. " She answered politely, not volunteering anything else. She didn't want him there, and she wanted to make that very clear.

"Good. The lads were all worried about you." He said, shifting uncomfortably again. She wondered why he'd come. It obviously wasn't out of any real concern for her. Maybe one of his superiors had forced him too? At least he wouldn't be staying long.

"Is there a point to this visit?" She asked, glancing over at the kitchen door where Charles was yet to reappear from. She was done with all the niceties. "Because if there is how about you get too it and then get out of my house." She snapped.

He glared back at her, giving her one of those looks that she'd been on the receiving end of so many times while they'd been in afghan. "I'd like to remind you, Dawes, that I'm still you superior, even if you are lying on your sofa in your pyjamas and suggest you start treating me like it."

He paused, as though waiting for her to say something, but she stayed silent and returned the icy glare he was giving her.

"It was suggested by Major Beck that I come and pay you a visit before the funeral and see how you were doing. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that you're currently screwing his beloved Captain James." He smirked at her. "Driving all the way up to bloody bath to check on your pathetic ass wasn't exactly high on my list of things to do don't you worry Dawes."

"Well." Molly said, after a few seconds silence. "As you've done your bit I think you'd better leave."

"Do you want me out of the way so you can tell Charles what an awful man I am is that it?" He retorted. "Because lets face it, you obviously haven't told him yet so I doubt that you're about to tell him now. Probably for the best, it's only a matter of time before he realises that you're not good enough for him and finds himself someone much better suited to being an officers wife."

Charles poked his head out from the kitchen. "Sorry about the delay, had Major Beck on the phone and we all know that man can talk for England once he gets going. Shall I make you that cup of tea now?" He asked.

"Actually, Captain Walsh has to go now." Molly answered before the other man had a chance to say a thing. "Thanks for coming, I'll see you at the funeral." She added, noticing Charles frown.

Her Captain hesitated for a second, before nodding in agreement. "Sorry it's only a flying visit Charles." He smiled, heading for the door. "It would've been nice to catch up, but there's always next time."

"Yeah, okay." Charles agreed, looking a little uncertain. "Well, thanks again for coming to check up on her. I'll show you out." He said, and they both disappeared out in to the hallway.

As they closed the door behind them Molly but down on her lip, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. He was right, she hadn't breathed a word to Charles about what had happened. Why hadn't she told him? Did she not trust him? Was her Captain right- was she worried that this would finally make him see that she wasn't good enough to be Mrs James? What was it that was stopping her?

"Well." Charles said, coming back in to the room and leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. "That was a bit odd. He'd come all that way to see you and then he only stayed ten minutes."

"He said he had things to do." She answered, wondering how to change the subject.

"I couldn't put the face to the name until he turned up on the doorstep. I actually used to know him quite well." Charles said. "We did some of our training together, he was a good lad as far as i remember. You should do well with him as a Captain. Now, let me go and finally make this bloody cup of tea before anyone else turns up." He disappeared off into the kitchen.

She stared at him, watching as he filled the kettle in slight disbelief. Charles and her Captain had been friends? The fact that Charles seemed to like the guy made her feel nauseous. What was she supposed to tell him?

Or maybe that was the answer- she just shouldn't tell him at all.


	11. Chapter 11

"Come on then." Charles sighed, putting his mug down on the coffee table. He was sitting in the arm chair, directly opposite her as she laid on the sofa staring blankly at the wall. She hadn't moved or spoken a word since her Captain had left. The cup of tea he'd brought her an hour ago sat cold and untouched on the coffee table where he'd left it. "When are you going to tell me what's going on here?" He prompted.

She flinched a little at the sound of his voice, as though she'd forgotten he was there until he spoke. "I'm fine." She muttered, pulling on a loose thread in the blanket she had covered herself with.

"Yeah, right." He answered, and she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was rolling his eyes at her. "That's your default answer to everything. I'd like to remind you that you told me you were fine when you were laying in the hospital with a bullet hole in your neck." He meant to sound joking, trying to lighten the mood but it fell flat.

"I don't want to talk about it." She sighed, shifting herself on the sofa so she was facing away from Him slightly, her whole body screamed out in pain but it was more comfortable than holding the weight of his gaze.

"So you keep saying." He muttered, trying to remind himself to be patient with her. She'd been through a lot, and he appreciated that she probably didn't want to re live any of it, but all he wanted to do was help her and he couldn't begin to describe how frustrating it was that she kept shutting him out time and time again.

"Maybe if you listened I wouldn't have to keep saying it." She snapped back at him.

He couldn't help but smile a little at that, she sounded much more like the Molly she'd been before this last tour, even if it only lasted a few seconds. "What happened out there Molly? And I don't just mean when you got shot. I'm not stupid, I know there's something that you're not telling me."

"Just leave it." She sighed.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm not going to tell anyone else." He pleaded.

She sighed quietly, if only she could believe him. "It's nothing, really. Me and Captain Walsh just didn't get on that well, I was just thinking about it that's all." It wasn't a lie, so she didn't have to feel guilty about lying to him. Maybe if she could just omit the details he'd get the picture and stop asking her questions about it every thirty seconds.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He frowned. He'd gathered that they weren't exactly friends the second Captain Walsh had walked in to the room. The look that had crossed Mollys face had made it very clear that he wasn't welcome, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on it at the time.

"It means exactly what I said!" She snapped. "Jesus Charles, what part of leave it do you not understand?"

"You shouting at me isn't going to make me leave it." He said slowly, waiting for her to turn and look at him. "It's only making me worry more Molly. What happened between you two?"

"Look, some things were said okay? He said things, I said things too that he could've got me in a lot of trouble for. Let's just leave it at that shall we?" The words tumbled out of her mouth.

And suddenly it clicked in to place in Charles head. "The night that I Skyped you, your eyes were all red and I asked you if you'd been crying. You told me that you thought you'd got an allergy or something. He'd said something to you and upset you, hadn't he?" He didn't even need her to answer, he already knew.

"Just leave it Charles, please." She pleaded with him quietly. She should've kept her mouth shut.

"What did he say? Was it to do with me?" He prompted.

"Why does it matter what was said Charles? People talk, it tends to happen when someone like me ends up with the likes of you. I mean look at us for gods sake."

"What did he say to you?" He asked again through gritted teeth. He'd already decided in his head that he was going to make that mans life a living hell if he'd so much as suggested that Molly wasn't good enough. At this point he didn't care if they'd been friends during training or not.

"I can't remember." She mumbled.

"Don't lie to me." His voice was stern and icy, something that reminded her of the earlier days of their relationship where he'd been convinced she wasn't good enough for his section and spent the entire time yelling at her. She noticed the way his feats were clenched in his lap, trying to control his anger.

"If I tell you, then you'll be straight on the phone to Major Beck and it's just going to be so much worse for me." She sighed. "I don't want to be the girl who ran home and told tales on her Captain to her boyfriend and caused him to lose his job. It's difficult enough already just being the medic who's shacked up with bloody superhuman Captain James."

"At this point I'm going to have to tell Major Beck he needs to have words with your Captain and find out what happened anyway, so you might as well tell me what happened now." He didn't want to be like this, he wished that she'd just trust him enough to tell him what had happened. But she'd been different since she'd been home, and apparently she didn't trust him enough anymore.

"I'm not doing this Charles." She snapped. "I'm going to bed." She hauled herself up off the sofa, biting her lip to stop herself crying out in pain as her body protested. She'd barely moved since she'd been home from the hospital, and each time she rediscovered just how painful it was. The thought of climbing the stairs made her feel sick, but at the moment the thought of staying there with Charles made her feel even worse.

"


	12. Chapter 12

**I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's been following this story, I absolutely love reading your thoughts on the story and its lovely to know that you're all enjoying reading it. I re read this chapter a couple of times and I'm still not sure how easy it is to follow- there's a lot of talking as Molly finally explains to Charles what happened. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make it read a bit better or lay it out better to make it easier to read then please do let me know. Thanks for reading, enjoy!**

She was curled up in their bed, on her side when she heard him walking up the stairs. She could almost hear the uncertainty in his steps as he walked, which was unusual because she didn't think she'd ever seen him uncertain about anything. His footsteps paused outside the door for a moment, then the door opened just a fraction- the creaking noise she'd asked him to fix while she was gone was still there. She felt the mattress dip slightly as he sat down on the other side of the bed and she could practically feel his eyes burning in to her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. "It's all been a bit much, being back here and... I don't know, it's just strange, nothings changed- everything's pretty much exactly where I left it, but I feel so different."

"You seem a bit different." Charles said slowly, wondering if he really ought to be saying this out loud. "I can't quite put my finger on it, even when you were in the hospital you just seemed... well, different I suppose."

"I don't know." She sighed, struggling to turn herself over a little so she was facing him. "I guess that a lot happened while I was away. I didn't really get a chance to get it all straight in my head before I came home. My trip back wasn't exactly planned." She joked, managing to flash him a half smile.

"I know it's difficult to talk about it sometimes, it feels like no ones going to understand where your coming from." He said slowly, trying to pick his words carefully so he didn't upset her again. "But, I'm here Molly and I love you and I want to help. I'm not going to keep on at you to tell me if you don't want to, but whatever it is I can see it's bothering you."

"Can you promise me one thing?" She asked, her voice small and childlike.

Charles nodded, holding his breath subconsciously as he waited to see what she was going to say.

"If I tell you, promise me that you wont get angry and you wont storm off and do something stupid?" She asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

He thought about making a joke for a second, anything to see her smile. "Promise." His heart was thumping in his chest with the anticipation of what was going to happen. That was the thing that kept him on his toes with Molly Dawes, she was never easy to read in situations like these- and that meant he had absolutely no idea what she was about to say.

"I'm telling this to Charles, my fiancee... Not Captain James, okay? So however you feel about it you've got to keep that bloody mouth of yours zipped. Okay?" She said, and he could see her having doubts again already.

"Okay." He said, looking at her expectantly.

"I'll be honest with you here, and I know you like him or used to be friends, whatever you want to call it- but I knew about thirty seconds after I met Captain Walsh that he was a complete and utter dickhead. He gave me one of those looks, you know like you gave me when I first met you at Brize Norton? One of those up and down ones where you can just see him judging you and already deciding that you're not good enough to be with his section. Made some sarcastic comment about the fact he didn't know they were letting cockneys in the army these days and how we must be getting desperate... Well, you know me, I decided there and then that I didn't like him- but what can you do? I was bloody stuck with him by that point and the rest of the lads were all right so I thought I'd just buckle down and get on with it, stay out of his way as much as I could and hope he'd leave me too it..

The lads all kept asking about you, I had the ring hanging round my neck and one of the spotted it- you know what it's like once they get hold of something they just wont let it go. I just avoided giving them any real details, you just never know what people are going to be like- figured it'd be easier to just keep my head down and get through it without any drama. It's not that I was ashamed of you or anything, I just..." She trailed off, looking at him worried that she'd upset him.

"It's okay, I understand." He thought back to the way that two section had reacted when they'd found out about him and Molly, and they were all friends. He could understand her reservations one hundred percent.

"They stopped asking eventually, thought I'd got away with it. Then Captain Walsh turned up in the med tend, making all these comments about having heard I'd got a bit of a thing for Captains and asking me what kind of reward he was getting for being my Captain. Kept asking what I'd done to end up with someone like you because clearly I was no where near good enough to be an officers wife.

He didn't say anything for a few days, thought maybe he'd lost interest in picking on me or something. Then we were in a briefing and he cracked some joke about the lads all needing to watch what they were saying to me because I'd got some kind of special relationship with Major Beck. Then after that all the lads were obviously convinced I was screwing bloody Major Beck of all people- took me bloody ages to explain my way out of that one. So I told them about you and they all started calling me Mrs Captain James, they were only joking, but then sometimes when I'd walk in to the room they'd stop talking or change the subject- it just felt like I was even more of an outside than I already was after that. They'd all been through training together and they were friends, then I'd turned up at the last minute and then they'd basically been told I was spying on them and reporting back to the Major, I just never really felt like I fitted in after that.

I think the lads did eventually get over it, we all kind of bonded over the fact we thought the Captain was a massive cockwomble. Ben found me sitting on the roof of the shitter one night after I'd had a bit of a run in with the Captain and he made me a cuppa and sat and listened to me rant about it for a bit. Captain Walsh had basically told me that I was a crap medic and it was my fault that Smurf had died and I should've lost my job not got a medal, but apparently once you're screwing a Captain you can do no wrong. I was so angry I've got no idea how I didn't end up hitting him- good job really because that would've caused all kinds of other problems that even you might not have been able to fix.

He was just relentless, all day every day, constantly making snide little remarks and undermining me at every opportunity to try and make me look totally incompetent. I wanted to skype you and tell you how awful it was, but then I thought you'd probably want to try and fix it all for me, because that's just how you are, and then I felt like that would just prove his point. Then that night I did skype you, I don't know what happened really, he must've been outside listening or something. After I'd finished talking you I went out to get a drink and he was just there- standing outside my tent. He grabbed hold of me and started ranting about how he'd ruin your career and mine if I so much as said a single bad word about him. Ben came round the corner and saw him talking to me. He came over and that kind of ended it, thank god. But after that he spent the entire time trying to make mine and Ben's lives miserable, like he was doing it just for the fun. When we went out on that mission just before... well... we were walking along and he was telling me about how he was going to destroy my career when we got back, and he'd take you down with me if you stayed with me. Said I'd end up with such a reputation no one would want me in their section and I'd have to leave.

I just don't understand it, I don't really see why our relationship seemed to offend him quite so much. I mean, it's not really affecting his day to day life is it? No need to be a complete ass about it and make everyone's lives miserable is there?" She looked at Charles, she'd almost forgotten about the fact he was sitting there listening to her rambling on.

He shook his head, biting his lip and clenching his fists slightly. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do more- go and track her Captain down and beat the crap out of him, or go and call Major Beck and tell him everything he'd just heard so he could watch the mans career come crashing down around him. Well, actually he would've loved to do both, but he'd just promised Molly that he wouldn't, and he'd keep his promise, no matter how difficult it was.


	13. Chapter 13

The day of Bens funeral seemed to take forever to come around, but equally it came round far to quickly for her liking. She felt sick to her stomach as her and Charles sat in the car outside the church, watching the people milling around outside. She pulled at her skirt again, it was the first time she'd put on her uniform since she'd been back and it just didn't feel right somehow.

Charles was sitting in the drivers seat next to her, staring out of the window in silence. As she studied his face she realised for the first time how exhausted he looked. She'd woken up a couple of times from nightmares, waking up screaming and he'd always been there to comfort her- but it hadn't occurred to her really that she had been keeping him awake too.

"Are you ready to go in?" He asked, gesturing towards the small crowd of people that was gathering. She could just make out the rest of her section, grouped together at the back. Thankfully there was no sign of Captain Walsh anywhere.

She bit her lip, nodding slowly as she slowly climbed out of the car. Charles appeared at her side as she hauled herself up out of the car, trying to hide the grimace from her face. She steadied herself against the car, wondering briefly how such a small task could suddenly require so much effort.

She exchanged a look with Charles that she knew was him silently asking if she was okay. She gave him a tiny nod, almost unnoticeable, before she smoothed her skirt down and slowly made her way towards the church entrance. Charles hovered by her side, his hands extended slightly as though her we're getting ready to catch her any second if she fell.

"Give me a second." She said as they approached the rest of her section. "I'll be fine Charles, I'll be just there." She added when he hesitated for a second.

He nodded reluctantly, stopping just a little short of the rest of the group as she continued walking.

"Dawes! How are you?" Josh was the first one to greet her, grabbing her in a hug that made her gasp a little as she tried to catch her breath. "You had us all bloody worried there!"

"Sorry lads." She said, forcing a smile.

"The boss wouldn't tell us how you were." Josh added. "He told us about Ben, but then we never heard anything about you and Lee."

"Is Lee here?" Molly asked, looking around quickly. Her stomach churned quickly as her brain transported her back to lying face down in the desert with her finger shoved in the hole in Lee's neck.

The boys parted a little and much to her surprise Lee emerged from the back. "I'm here Dawesy, don't you worry." He stepped forward and grabbed her in a hug. "Thanks to you too I should add."

Molly flushed a little, stepping back out of his arms. The scar on his neck was just visible about his collar she noticed. "You look like you're healing up well." She noted.

"We'll all be back together in no time." He said.

There was a moment silence as they all realised that they wouldn't ever truly be back together as a section, they'd always be missing Ben.

"Where's the boss anyway?" Molly asked, glancing around to see if she could spot him. Charles had wandered off a little and was now deep in conversation with a tall man in an army uniform that she didn't recognise.

"I don't know, and let's face it who cares." Someone muttered under their breath.

"Speaking of Captains." Josh suddenly perked up. "Is this the infamous Captain James that's going to make an honest woman out of our Molly Dawes?" He nodded in Charles direction.

Molly felt her cheeks flush a deep red again. "Yeah, that's him." She nodded. "Best behaviour then lads, eh?"

"Well Dawes, you've done well for yourself there I must admit. An officers wife hey?" Josh laughed.

"Oh shut it." Lee laughed quietly. "You know who you're starting sound like!"

"Boys. Dawes." Captain Walsh's voice cut through the quiet laughter. "I think maybe you'd better head over that way now." The entire group fell silent and the mood quickly changed. Everyone began silently making their way over to where everyone was waiting for the hearse to arrive.

"Dawes." Captain Walsh grabbed her arm as she went to walk, pulling her back from the rest of the group. "I see you've brought Captain James with you." He noted. Molly pulled her arm free from his grasp trying to ignore the way his touch made her skin crawl.

"Can I help you with something Sir?" Molly asked politely, wondering where on earth he was going with this. It was her friends funeral, it was hardly the time of place for whatever games he was planning.

Before he had a chance to get to whatever it was he wanted to say Charles had appeared at her side, a protective arm resting on her shoulder. He suddenly seemed much taller, as though his anger had somehow added a couple of inches on to his height as he towered over Captain Walsh. "They're nearly here Molly, we need to go." He said. "Captain Walsh." He greeted her boss with a curt nod, before leading her in the direction of the rest of her section. She could feel the tension radiating off him as they walked together, his jaw tense as he tried to calm himself down.

He'd promised Molly that he wouldn't interfere, that what she'd told him would go no further. As she'd pointed out she was telling Charles, her fiancé not Captain James. She'd trusted him enough to tell him what had happened, and he couldn't betray that trust. But he was he supposed to stand back and watch that smug grin on her Captains face as he watched them from a distance? He clenched his fists by his side, trying to control his rage. Every single part of him wanted to destroy that mans career over what he'd done, but doing that risked destroying Molly's trust in him.

Those thoughts went out of his mind, for that moment at least, as the hearse pulled up outside the church. The Union Jack draped over the coffin. His mind briefly wandered back to smurfs mother, she'd given the army her boys and they'd given her back a flag. He watched as Bens mother climbed out, wiping her eyes as she stood beside her sons coffin.

And then it hit him, how close he'd come to being the one standing next to Molly's coffin. He reached out and gave her hand a small squeeze as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

Captain Walsh was going to pay for what he had done, to Molly, Ben and the rest of her section. If it wasn't for him they might not be standing there, about to bury a young man who'd got his whole life ahead of him. The question that remained, was would Molly forgive him if he went to the Major and destroyed the mans career?


	14. Chapter 14

He was leaning against the wall at the back of the room where the wake was being held, arms folded as he watched Molly sitting at a table on the other side of the room talking to the rest of her section. She was getting tired, he could see from the way she was leaning back against her chair and the colour had drained from her face. He'd give it a few more minutes and then he'd make their excuses.

He had to suppress an eye roll as he saw captain Walsh making a beeline for him from across the room. He'd been deliberately avoiding the man all day, frightened that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he started talking to that man knowing what he'd done to Molly.

"Captain James." Walsh smiled, leaning against the wall beside him. "It's nice to see you again. How is Dawes doing?"

Charles bit his tongue for a second, glancing over at Molly who was still deep in conversation. He turned back to Captain Walsh. "Listen here." He hissed. "Molly's told me all about what happened out there on tour, the way you treated her and the rest of the lads. I've got serious doubts about whether we'd be stood here at a wake if it wasn't for your terrible leadership skills. Those lads put their faith in you to have their back and bring them back home safely, but you were too busy playing mind games and throwing your weight around to do your God damn job!" He paused to glance over at Molly again.

"But..." Captain Walsh tried to interrupt.

Charles shut him down with a glare. "I honestly don't give a crap. The only reason I haven't been to major Beck and totally destroyed your entire career is because for some unknown reason Molly still feels some strange kind of loyalty to you and she begged me not to. But I'll be honest with you, the more she tells me the more I think I might just do it anyway. You don't deserve to be a part of the army at all, never mind lead a group of soldiers."

Captain Walsh hesitated for a moment, then his mouth set in to a firm line and he glared at Charles. "You're not going to do anything. You started a relationship with a soldier that was in your charge, while still married and on tour in Afghanistan which ended up with you and another soldier being shot. Major Beck might think the sun shines out of your bloody ass but even he'd have a hard time straightening that one out for you. It would be such a shame to watch that career of yours come crashing down around you, especially if you took poor little Dawes down with you." He gave Charles a smirk before walking off.

Charles was livid, and if it wasn't for the fact they were at a funeral he probably would've punched the man. Instead he stood for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself before walking over to the table where Molly was sitting. She smiled at him as he slid in to the empty seat next to her. "We should get going soon." He said.

She nodded in agreement. "Just a couple more minutes." She smiled, turning back to the rest of the lads sitting around the table with her. "Boys, this is Charles, my fiancé." They both laughed as a round of wolf whistles went up.

"It's nice to meet you all, I've heard a lot about you." Charles smiled.

"Don't believe a words Dawes has told you!" Someone shouted.

Charles laughed. "Same goes for anything she's told you about me."

"Hey!" Molly smacked him playfully. "You don't even know the half of what I've told them!"

"I can imagine." He smiled, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, let's get you home before you cause any more trouble. It's been lovely to meet you all." He held out his hand and helped Molly up out of her chair, keeping hold of her hand as her led through the people that had gathered and out in to the car park.

When they finally reached the car Molly sank heavily back in to the seat, finally realising just how tired she was. A mixture of emotion and anxiety had kept her going throughout the day, but now she'd finally stopped her entire body felt like it was made from lead. Charles gave her arm a squeeze as he settled in to the drive drivers seat.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, frowning at her. She'd gone very pale and quiet, her head tipped back against the head rest and her eyes squeezed closed.

"I'm fine Charles, I'm just really tired. I didn't really think through how exhausting it would be coming here. And that was just trying to be civil with bloody captain Walsh." She joked.

Charles grimaced a little, something that didn't go unnoticed by Molly.

"What did you say to him?" She demanded. "Please tell me you didn't Charles, you promised!"

"He just came up and started talking to me, he got under my skin a bit. I might've said a couple of things I shouldn't have done, but you would've done exactly the same in my position Molly!" He said defensively. "Did you honestly think when you told me what he'd done that I'd be able to just ignore it and carry on like nothing had happened?"

"What did you say to him Charles?" She sighed, he knew without even looking at her that she was rolling her eyes at him.

"I just said that I knew what he'd done, and that as far as I'm concerned he doesn't deserve to be a part of the army after the way he's acted."

"And?" She prompted. She could tell from his voice there was someone he hadn't told her.

"He said if I tried to do anything or told anyone about it he'd ruin my career and take you down with me." He admitted. "But we both know Major Beck isn't going to let that happen Molly. He might not necessarily agree with what happened between us two and how it happened, but he's not going to let someone ruin our careers over it. If he'd wanted that to happen he would've done it himself when he had the chance."

"Just take me home." She sighed. "I asked you not to get involved, but you went ahead and did what you wanted to do anyway, so now I guess we'll just have to hope you haven't made this any worse won't we."


	15. Chapter 15

"You're still annoyed with me aren't you?" Charles asked as they sat in silence drinking their coffee the next morning.

"What makes you say that?" She frowned, stirring her coffee around in the mug.

"You've got that look." He said, gesturing to her face.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, slamming her mug down on the kitchen table angrily. "I asked you to do one thing for me Charles, one bloody thing and you couldn't just keep your mouth shut and stay away from him could you?!" She snapped.

"How is this now my fault?" He answered angrily. "That man is completely incompetent at his job, and a bully who almost got you killed! Do you honestly expect me to just ignore that? What happens next time you go on tour?"

"You don't get to make that decision for me!" She shouted. "I'm the one that has to go back to the base and be the one that everyone points at and whispers about for being engaged to a Captain. I don't need to be the girl who got her current Captain fired either!"

"I'm sorry that I'm such an inconvenience to you and you feel so embarrassed." He spat back at her, standing up from the table abruptly and grabbing his coat.

"Where are you going?" She asked, surprised by the fact he was leaving. She didn't think he'd let her out of his sight for more than five minutes the entire time she'd been home from the hospital. They'd fought before, but he'd never once walked out on her.

"To see Major Beck." He said matter of factly, reappearing in the door way with his car keys in his hand. "You're going to be pissed at me either way so I might as well make sure that your Captain gets what he deserves." With that he turned and disappeared.

"Charles!" She called. "Charles!" She stood up to follow him, catching herself on the edge of the table as she wobbled unsteadily, her head spinning because she'd stood up too quickly. She heard the front door slam and then the car start before she'd even managed to get to the kitchen door.

She reached in to her pocket and grabbed her phone, calling him to tell him to calm down and come back. As she pressed dial his phone started ringing on the kitchen counter behind her. She knew if he went to see Major Beck in this state he wouldn't hold back at all. But then would that be such a bad thing? She knew he was right, Captain Walsh did deserve to be punished for what he'd done. She had some serious doubts about the fact that Ben might still be alive if it wasn't for some of the decisions that their Captain had made and the situation he'd put them in.

God it was infuriating Charles being right all the time.

She wanted to phone him and apologise, to tell him that of course she wasn't embarrassed to be engaged to him, but the way Captain Walsh had treated her because of it had made her more reluctant to tell people that she didn't know that well about him.

She was also worried that anything that Charles did to try and make sure Captain Walsh got what he deserved might come back on him. He was still finding his feet back at work after his injury and the last thing she wanted was for anything to happen that might jeopardise that for him. He'd been so happy when he'd been cleared to go back to work, she could remember him calling to tell her and she could tell he had a massive grin on his face even through the phone.

She hesitated looking at Charles' phone on the counter. She picked it up and unlocked it, finding Major Beck's phone number in his contacts. She paused for a second, trying to pluck up the courage to dial. If she phoned Major Beck now and told him what had happened then Charles wouldn't need to get involved. She glanced at the clock as she pressed dial. Surely Charles couldn't have got there yet, and he couldn't have phone ahead to say that he was coming because she had his phone.

Major Beck picked up after two rings, her heart skipping in her chest as he spoke. "Charles! It's good to hear from you." He said warmly.

"Sir, it's Molly actually. Molly Dawes." She said uncertainly. Maybe this had been a mistake.

"Dawes? How are you? Is everything okay?" He asked, and she could hear he was confused.

"Yes. Well, actually no Sir." She told him trying to calm herself down enough to form a coherent sentence. "I um.. Charles is actually on his way to see you now, but I wanted to talk to you before he got there."

"What's going on Dawes?" He asked. She knew him well enough by now to tell from the tone of his voice that he was frowning.

"Some things happened while I was on tour Sir, and I told Charles and he's on his way to talk to you about it now, but I thought it might be best if you heard it from me rather than him." She stumbled over the words. He was going to think she was insane if she didn't pull herself together. "I didn't want to tell anyone, well I didn't really feel like I could tell anyone, but I realise now that I can't really just keep it a secret."

"What on earth are you talking about Dawes?" He sounded completely bewildered. In any other situation the idea of the major sitting in his office with absolutely no idea what was going on would have made her laugh, but she was too nervous.

"Captain Walsh Sir." She said slowly. "He found out about my relationship with Captain James and he bullied me throughout my tour, telling the other lads lies about me. When we were out on patrol just before Ben um... He was..." Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and she couldn't speak.

"I think we need to talk about this face to face I think Dawes." He said after a moments pause. "I can tell you're obviously upset by what happened, and obviously we need to get to the bottom of what happened. I know you're still not well so I'll talk to Charles when he gets here and we'll sort out a time for me to come and see you and we'll talk this through okay?"

"Yes Sir." She said weakly.

"Oh and Dawes?" He added.

"Yes Sir."

"Don't worry yourself about it, you've done the right thing by telling us." And with that he was gone.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hi." He said sheepishly, standing in the door way. "Are you still mad at me?"

She pushed herself upright on the sofa so she could look at him properly. "That's depends." She answered slowly. "Are you still mad at me?"

He shook his head. "I wasn't really angry with you in the first place, I've just been so worried about you and the idea of him getting away with what he did just... well I can't even bear to think about it." He sighed, moving to sit down beside her.

"I know what he did wasn't right, but the last thing I need is you destroying your career trying to save me. I can look after myself." She said softly.

He smiled, raising an eyebrow. "So I hear, I went storming in there all ready to tell Major Beck everything and then he announced he'd already spoken to you."

She felt her cheeks flush. "I didn't know what to do."

"If I'd known that was all it would take then I would've done it ages ago." He laughed. "What did Beck have to say for himself anyway?"

"Not much." She shrugged. "He said he'd rather talk about it face to face." The thought made her stomach churn a little. It was one thing pouring her heart out down the phone where she couldn't see his reactions, but the idea of him coming to her house and having to tell him what had happened made her feel more than a little bit sick.

"He said you sounded a bit upset, he thought it might be better for the two of you to sit down and talk it through face to face." He gave her a look of concern. She hadn't shown much emotion about any of what had happened, at least not in front of him. He'd been more than a little surprised when Beck had told him about their phone call.

"I can't wait." She attempted to make a joke but it came out more sarcastic.

"You won't have to wait long." He grimaced. "He's coming this afternoon, didn't want to leave it."

"We'll isn't that bloody fantastic." She muttered. "Could've given me some warning."

"If he's got a problem like a Captain going round bullying members of his section then he needs to deal with it quickly, make sure nothing else happens." Charles explained. "He did say he was worried about stressing you out while you're not well."

"I'm fine." She muttered.

"Yeah, yeah. So you keep saying." He rolled his eyes. "Then you won't have a problem talking to Major Beck will you?"

She pulled a face at him. "One condition."

"Anything." He answered straight away, not even hesitating.

She cringed, hesitating before she spoke. "If I'm going to tell him all of what happened, I don't want you to be here. I need to do this on my own."

"Molly-"

"You said anything Charles, please." She pleaded with him. "You know I love you, but I just think it'll be easier to explain if it's just me and Beck. I'll explain it all to you too, but the last thing I want is you deciding to storm out and take matters in to your own hands again."

"I wouldn't." He grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, have you forgotten your little stunt this morning already?" She laughed.

"Am I forgiven for that?" He asked nervously. "I just, I don't know what came over me. All I could think about was you going back to work with him and what might happen."

"I'm with holding my forgiveness until I've spoken to Major Beck. You'd better hope this all goes okay or you're going to be in trouble." She frowned, but he could tell she was joking.

"I see." He smiled, winking as he stood up. "Well, I probably ought to tidy this place up a bit before he does get here." He looked at the mess their living room was in.

"You're not about to tell me you actually know how to use the hoover are you?" She gasped in pretend shock. "Because I don't think I've ever seen you touch it. I'm surprised you even know where it's kept!"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Hilarious. I'm an Army Officer, I'm more than equipped to use a hoover!"

She raised an eyebrow, watching with her arms folded as he disappeared in to the cupboard under the stairs to retrieve the hoover, laughing to herself as she heard him swearing about the piles of stuff in the cupboard meaning he couldn't actually get to the hoover.

He appeared a few minutes later, looking a little flustered. "Maybe I'll just leave it after all." He suggested.

"Probably for the best." She laughed. "I don't really think he's coming to check on how well you've hoovered the carpets anyway." She joked.

"He's a good man, Major Beck." Charles said, leaning against the door frame. "He'll make sure this is dealt with properly and it doesn't happen again. He promised me."

"What do you mean dealt with?" She asked.

"I don't know for sure." He told her. "I know what I want to do, but I very much doubt that Major Beck would agree with that course of action."

She grimaced. "See, this is why I told you to leave him alone."

"I'm doing as I've been told." He pointed out. "I trust that Major Beck will make him pay for what he's done. It'll be just as satisfying to watch his career collapse around him, don't you worry."

She felt a twinge of guilt. Did he really deserve to have his entire career destroyed because of some comments he'd made and a couple of bad decisions?

Why on earth was she still feeling like she had to protect that man, after everything that had happened? Charles was right, her Captain did deserve to be punished- he needed to face up to the fact that his actions may have been responsible for the incident that had happened, and most importantly that they might still have Ben as a part of their section if he'd been better at his job.

"Just stop worrying around it." Charles suggested. "It's out of your hands now, Major Beck is going to do whatever he feels is necessary to stop it happening again."

"I guess." She sighed uneasily.

"Don't spend the whole morning stressing yourself out about it." He said, sitting down beside her again. "It's all going to be fine."

She rested her head against his shoulder as he put his arms around her. "I really hope so." She whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

She felt sick to her stomach as Charles got up to answer the knock at the door. It was going to be Major Beck. He'd called Charles earlier to tell him he was on his way, at the time she'd been fairly calm about it, but she now felt as though she might actually be sick. She could hear the two of them talking in the hallway in hushed voices, she strained her ears trying to hear what they were talking about, but she couldn't quite get there.

The door to the living room was pushed open and she struggled to get herself to her feet as Major Beck walked in behind Charles. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable standing there in her jeans and a hoodie.

"Sir." She nodded, not really knowing what to say to him. The whole situation was messed up- Major Beck was stood there in her bloody living room, she never would've see that coming.

"How are you feeling Dawes?" He asked, looking just as uncomfortable as she felt. "Why don't you sit down, you look a bit unsteady?" He smiled at her sympathetically, noticing the way she was gripping the arm of the sofa trying to keep herself upright.

"I'm getting there Sir." She nodded, sitting herself back down heavily. "Have a seat." She told him, gesturing to the arm chair where Captain Walsh had sat on his brief visit.

Charles cleared his throat from the doorway. "I'll leave you two to it then I guess." He looked between the two of them uncertainly. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Then he disappeared into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

There was a few moments of awkward silence between the two of them, before Major Beck finally spoke. "I know you're not very comfortable talking about this Molly." He said slowly, watching her as she picked at a loose thread on her jumper. "Charles said that you were going to keep what happened to yourself because you were worried it might come back on you, but I want to reassure you now that whatever you say to me, there aren't going to be any negative consequences for you. From what Charles has told me it was your Captain that was in the wrong, and it's something that I take very seriously."

She nodded uncertainly. Maybe she should've asked Charles to stay after all. She didn't seem to be able to find any words at all.

"Just take your time, start from the beginning if you can. Charles did tell me some of what you told him, but I need to hear it from you really."

She hesitated for a moment, looking down at her hands as she started to talk. "I don't really know what happened, right from the offset he was a bit… I don't know, off? Not just with me, but all of us. He'd go round yelling at everyone over literally nothing, he was always picking on Ben for one reason or another. I think we all just thought he was trying to sort of establish his authority, since he was new and all that, thought it'd settle down eventually."

"I'm guessing it didn't get any better?" Major Beck prompted when she didn't go any further.

She shook her head, half smiling at him. "I don't know how he found out, I'd deliberately not told any of the lads about me and Charles because I was worried it might cause problems, people usually give me that look after they find out- but Captain Walsh turned up in my med tent and started making all these comments about how someone had told him I'd got a thing for Captains, said he couldn't wait to see what he was going to get out of being my Captain." She cringed at the thought.

"What happened after that Molly?" He asked. "I need you to be honest with me here so I can make sure this is dealt with properly. I'm not going to tell Charles or anyone, I just need to know the truth of what happened."

"He just kept coming back." She told him quietly, looking up at him. "Every time I was on my own he just seemed to be there. I'd come out of the showers and he'd be there waiting for me or he'd come in to the med tent while i was trying to get my kit organised, he'd be making all these comments about me owing him a favour, how he wouldn't tell Charles." It made her skin crawl just thinking about it.

"I have to ask Molly, did anything happen?" He asked, shifting in his seat a little.

"There was this one night." She told him shakily. "It was the night before we went out on that patrol and everything happened. It was late and all the boys had gone to bed, I came out of the showers and he was just in my tent, waiting for me. It was dark and I didn't see him to start with.. Then he.." She stopped for a moment, that horrible feeling of nausea had returned as she started to remember what had happened that night.

"It's okay Dawes, take your time." He smiled reassuringly.

"He got hold of me, he was saying all this stuff about how he could ruin mine and Charles' careers so easily, how all it would take was a few words from him and I'd be booted out of the army and back working at the nail bar in no time. Said no one would ever believe the cockney that had seduced her married Captain on her first tour, he told me if I tried to tell anyone they'd never take my word over his. Said he'd leave me and Charles alone if I did him a few favours while we were out there, said I owed it to him." She cringed at the thought. Even now she could remember the feeling of his breath on her neck and his hands on her shoulders.

Major Beck wasn't doing a very good job of hiding the look of horror on his face by this point.

"I was trying to push him off me, he'd got hold of my wrists and I couldn't get myself free. I wanted to scream and hope one of the boys would hear and come over, but then I was so worried about what he might say had happened and that no one would believe what I was saying. Then by some miracle Ben came looking for me- think he said he'd got a headache or something and he wanted some paracetamol- Captain Walsh let go of me and disappeared as soon as Ben came in. I spent all night laying there, waiting for him to come back and try again." She admitted. "I thought about phoning Charles and telling him, but I knew he'd drive himself insane worrying and there was nothing he could do, so I just decided I'd pretend it hadn't happened, figured we'd be back at Bastion before I knew it and I could stay away from him. Then all of a sudden we were going out on that mission, we were crouched in that ditch waiting for him to tell us to go and he was there, whispering in my ear telling me about all the ways he was going to ruin mine and Charles' lives if I ever told anyone what had happened… Then the shots came, and well, you know the rest."

He stared at her for a moment in silence after she had finished talking, digesting what she'd just said. "Thank you for telling me Molly. I can promise you now that he's not going to get away with what he's done. I hate to think that you were out there with a Captain that you didn't feel you could trust, and the last thing we want is for that to ever happen again."

"Thanks Sir." She mumbled.

"I'm going to go now, give you the chance to rest, but I'll call Charles and let you know what's going to happen next. Okay?" He said, standing up and heading towards the door.

"Thanks Sir." She managed a small smile.

The door to the kitchen opened and Charles appeared. "I'll show you out." He smiled at Major Beck. Her stomach flipped as he looked at her, wondering how much he'd overheard, his face didn't give anything away. She shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, waiting for him to come back so she would find out.


	18. Chapter 18

She'd been silent the whole way home, staring out of the window of the car as he drove back to Rebecca's, Sam was rambling on from the back seats totally unaware that she wasn't listening to him. They'd taken Sam out to the zoo for the morning, he'd been bugging Charles for weeks about wanting to go- it had seemed like the perfect opportunity to get Molly out of the house so she'd stop worrying about the meeting with Major Beck and Captain Walsh that was due to happen in a couple of days. It had worked perfectly, up until the point they'd got back in the car and he'd lost her back into her own little world.

"It'll all be okay, I promise." He said quietly, resting his hand on her knee and squeezing gently. "This will all get sorted out, he'll get what he deserves and then we can all move on with our lives."

She turned to look at him, forcing a half smile. Even the thought of having to go over the events of what had happened again made her feel physically sick. To make it even worse Charles couldn't come to the meeting with her, he'd told her the night before, so she was going to have to face Captain Walsh alone.

"We're almost home now Sam, put your shoes on." Charles called over his shoulder as they turned on to the road that Rebecca lived on.

"I can't wait to tell Mummy and Danny all about the animals!" Sam beamed, struggling with the Velcro on his shoes.

"Who's Danny?" Charles frowned, glancing at Sam in the rear view mirror before exchanging a look with Molly.

"Mummy's new boyfriend. He comes round all the time, he's funny." Sam answered matter of factly. "I'm going to tell him all about the tigers and the monkeys."

Charles' grip on the steering wheel tightened a little, and he exchanged a look with Molly. He wasn't angry that Rebecca had found someone new, he was glad to hear she was moving on. What had annoyed him was the almighty fuss Rebecca had created over Molly spending time with Sam, but apparently it was fine for her new boyfriend to be spending time with his son without his knowledge.

"How long has he been coming round for now?" He asked, trying not to sound too bothered.

Sam shrugged. "I've done my shoes Dad!" He announced proudly.

Charles sighed, he was going to have to ask Rebecca about this new man of hers, and what she was doing letting him spend time with their son. He pulled on to the driveway outside her house, feeling his irritation rise as he saw a shiny silver Range Rover parked outside that wasn't Rebecca's, and presumably belonged to this new man of hers.

He jumped out of the car, Molly climbing out of the other side much more slowly, and undid the back doors to let Sam out. The front door opened as Sam jumped out of the car and sprinted for the door.

"Mummy!" He squeaked as he ran into Rebecca's arms.

"Did you have fun?" Rebecca asked, watching as Charles gathered Sam's things out of the back of the car and walked towards the door with Molly.

"We saw lions and the tigers and there was monkeys too!" Sam babbled excitedly.

"That sounds good." Rebecca smiled, turning to look at Charles and Molly as they stopped at the door. She reached out and took the bag Charles was holding out to them. "Thanks for taking him, sounds like you had fun." She smiled.

"We did." Molly smiled. Charles was standing silently beside her, apparently he'd lost the ability to speak.

"How are you feeling now?" Rebecca asked, turning to Molly, sounding almost like she genuinely cared.

"Much better, thank you." said Molly, returning her smile. She was happy to be polite but she didn't really want to go into all the details. Plus, she could feel the tension radiating off Charles who was stood next to her. "So what's this Sam's been telling me about this new boyfriend of yours then?" Charles blurted out, unable to hold it back any longer.

Rebecca flushed bright red. "I wasn't keeping it from you on purpose, there's just not been a right time to tell you to be honest with everything that's been going on. And besides he's not really a boyfriend. We've just been enjoying each other's company"

Rebecca could feel Charles' eyes boring into her. She'd been on the receiving end of that look many times before. "Anyway" she said averting her gaze, "you two actually know each other." She stepped aside and opened the front door a little bit wider.

Molly felt like someone had knocked the air out of her lungs as Rebecca stepped back and she saw Captain Walsh leaning against the kitchen counter, smirking at her and Charles.

"You're fucking kidding me right?" Charles asked, incredulously.

Rebecca glared at him, nodding in the direction of Sam. "Language, Charles." She scolded.

"You're seriously with him?" Charles asked, nodding in the direction of Molly's Captain. "How long has this been going on?" He balled his fists into his hands, it's all he could do to stop himself launching across the kitchen and punching him in his smug face.

"A month or so? I don't really see what your problem is. You've got her." Rebecca shot back coldly pointing at Molly. She hadn't been expecting this kind of reaction at all.

"Can you give us a minute pleases?" He looked over her shoulder at Captain Walsh who was standing there with an amused grin on his face.

"Oh, anything you've got to say you can say in front of him." Rebecca answered, raising an eyebrow at Charles. "Danny knows what you're like anyway, he's been telling me all kinds of stories about what you two got up to at Sandhurst."

Charles looked at her blankly, turning away as Molly tugged at his sleeve.

"Come on." She said softly. "Let's just go home, you can sort this out later." She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

For a moment she thought he was just going to walk away quietly and leave Rebecca to it, then he squared himself up to her again. "I suppose he's told you all about what happened in Afghanistan too has he? That he's got to go to a meeting with Major Beck on Wednesday because he's been bullying the soldiers in his command?"

Rebecca pulled a face. "That's all just a misunderstanding Charles, it'll all get cleared up I'm sure." She reached out and took Captain Walsh's hand. "Now if you don't mind, we'd like to enjoy our evening in peace?"

"Come on." Molly said more firmly, gripping hold of his hand and pulling him off the doorstep as Rebecca shut the door in their face.

"Fucking unbelievable." He muttered, shaking his head as he climbed back into the car. "He's done this on purpose."

"You don't know that. Maybe it was just a coincidence?" Molly argued, trying to look on the positive side, although she didn't really believe it. She knew what her Captain was like, there was bound to be an ulterior motive somewhere.

He shot her look which made it clear he didn't believe her. "Nothing that man does is a coincidence. He was trouble at Sandhurst and I don't doubt that he's just as bad now. He's planning something, I just can't quite work out what it is." He shook his head, starting the car and pulling out of Rebecca's driveway, his mind still racing as he tried to process what had just happened.


	19. Chapter 19

"Charles, I don't think I really need to reiterate to you that you can't be here." Major beck sighed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms as he looked at the man sat across the desk from him.

"But sir, can you not see what's happening here?" He protested, clenching his fists. Talking to Beck had been plan A, but plan B of just beating some sense into Captain Walsh was now looking much more favourable.

"I'm only going to say this once more Charles, you cannot have any part in this and I will not discuss it with you. What Dawes chooses to share with you afterwards is up to her, but right now I think you'd best head back to your car and wait there for her."

Charles opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Beck had that look in his eye that said he'd been in serious trouble if he over stepped the mark any more than he already had. It seemed Beck didn't think that Captain Walsh and Rebecca's new relationship was any of his concern.

"Thank you Sir." Charlie's replied reluctantly, his tone clipped, before turning and walking back out into the hallway where Molly was standing.

"Well?" She asked, her face looking hopeful. She felt physically sick at the thought of going in there without Charles.

He shook his head. "He's not going to budge, you're going to have to go in there on your own. I'm sorry Molly." He felt like he'd let her down, she looked terrified. "It'll be fine, you know Beck. He's firm but he's always been fair."

"I guess." She agreed, but she didn't look at all convinced. "Are you going to wait out here?"

Charles shook his head. "I've got to wait in the car- Becks orders." He leant forward and kissed her cheek. "I'll be right outside when you're done, promise." He paused for a second, before turning and disappearing off down the hallway.

She stood outside the door, waiting nervously, wondering how much trouble she'd get in if she just ran off. Anything was preferable to having to sit through this. And for once, she didn't think that Charles would argue with her.

"Dawes." The clipped voice behind her sent a shiver up her spine. "I would say it's a pleasure, but then I'd be lying." Captain Walsh sneered at her as she turned to face him.

"Sir." She mumbled, unable to get any words out. Her heart was racing and she was convinced she might throw up over him any second. Why had she let Charles leave her?

"I've just had a lovely chat with Charles in the car park, I really do hope there's no hard feelings between any of us about this little misunderstanding?" He asked, standing just a little too close to her. She could feel his breath on her face. "I mean after all, it would be a terrible shame if people found out some of the things Rebecca's been telling me. I wonder what Sam would think of his beloved Daddy if he knew what he was really like?"

"What?" The word fell out of her mouth as she stared at him in confusion. "What has she been telling you?"

"Well now." He flashed her a sickening smile. "If you smooth this all over with Beck and make sure he knows what really happened, that you came on to me and then got upset when I turned you down, no one will ever have to know. Got it?"

"Yes." She mumbled, taking a step back closer to the wall to try and get him out of her personal space. Thankfully she was saved as the door to Major Becks office swung open and he stood in front of them. Both her and Captain Walsh stood up straight automatically.

"At ease." He smiled softly. "Captain Walsh, you're early."

"Yes Sir." His whole demeanour had changed the second Major Beck had come out of the door. It made her feel sick.

"I just need a few moments with Dawes, wait out here and I'll come and get you." Beck said, beckoning her inside the office and closing the door before Walsh could say anything else. "Have a seat Dawes." He said, sitting himself down behind the desk.

"Thank you Sir." She replied automatically, sitting down uncomfortable at one of the chairs opposite him.

"I wanted to warn you Dawes, before Captain Walsh arrived, that he's made his own allegations- he's saying that you came onto him, and when he turned you down you came up with this whole story to get back at him." Beck sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Of course he is." She bit down on her lip, willing herself not to cry. He'd bloody love it if she did.

"The problem is Molly, it's your word against his. I don't think that you would lie about something this, and I'm inclined to believe your version of events, but I haven't got a single shred of proof that any of this happened." He told her reluctantly, watching her face fall.

"I understand Sir." She forced the words out. She didn't understand at all, it was unfair that after everything he'd done to her he was still managing to get away with it.

"I'll be keeping a close eye on him in future Dawes, and he knows that. I know it's not any kind of constellation, but my hands are tied and that's the best I can do for the moment."

"I know. Thank you Sir." She forced herself to smile.

"In the meantime, we can arrange to have you transferred to another section. We can't have you under Captain Walsh's command after this."

She was going to have to leave all of the friends that she'd made in her section, that was her first thought. She'd known this was a possibility all along, but she'd never imagined that Captain Walsh would somehow manage to wiggle his way out of what had happened.

"Yes Sir." She struggled to get the words out. "Was there anything else?"

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "That's all Dawes, you're dismissed. I'll be in touch soon."

"Sir." She nodded, standing up and walking out of the room.

As she walked out into the hallway and saw him standing there with that smug look on his face, it took every bit of restraint she had not to punch him. Instead she focused on keeping her expression neutral and putting one foot in front of the other as she walked down the hallway towards the exit to find Charles.

She wasn't sure that he was going to remain quite as calm as she had though.


	20. Chapter 20

_Sorry, I know it's been absolutely ages since I last updated this. I started writing this ages ago and then hit a bit of a wall with it, but it's finally finished! I'll try not to take quite so long to update it in the future!_

"You do realise that we are going to have to talk about this at some point right?" She could hear the frustration in his voice as he paced up and down the living room. She'd come running out to the car in tears, refusing to look at or speak to him the whole way home. He hadn't pushed it at the time because he could see it was just going to turn into an argument but he didn't think he could take it much longer.

"There's nothing to talk about though is there? This is exactly what I told you was happen but yet again you wouldn't bloody listen to me would you!" She snapped. "You did exactly what I thought you would and got involved and now look what's happened!"

"Where is all this coming from?" She'd hit a nerve, she could tell from the way he was biting his lip he was dangerously close to losing his temper.

"I'm going to have to find another section and another bloody Captain now and hope that this time it's a bit better than that was. Then I've got to hope that Walsh doesn't start the bloody rumour mill going and they'll all end up hating me before I get there!"

"What did Beck day? Surely you're not going to be leaving it'll be Walsh." He frowned.

"No it's me because like I thought bloody Walsh screwed me over!" She was shaking she was so angry, it wasn't Charles she was angry with and she knew she shouldn't be taking it out on him but she couldn't help herself.

Charles shook his head. "Beck wouldn't let him get away with this."

"Open your eyes Charles he already has!" She shouted. She hadn't realised she was crying until she felt the moisture on her lips. "What did you honestly expect Beck to do? It's my word against his and you know if he sides with me Walsh is just going to say it's because of you."

"But-" Charles was staring at her in disbelief.

"And don't even get me started on Rebecca! You might want to have a word because I don't know what the hell she's been telling him but he seems to think he's holding your career in his hands." She needed to calm down before she said something she was going to regret but she didn't seem to be able to get control of her emotions. "I don't know, maybe he is." She shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He was angry now, she could hear it in his voice as she turned to walk away from him.

She paused, one foot on the bottom step. "I don't know." She shrugged. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Whatever he thinks he knows he's wrong. I've told you what happened with me and Rebecca." Charles argued.

"Whatever." She sighed. "Talk to her, don't talk to her. You'll do whatever you want anyway. I'm going to lay down I've got a headache." She stomped off up the stairs and he heard her slam the bedroom door shut.

He stood there for a moment, staring up the stairs after her. He took a moment to try and get his head around what had just happened before he pulled his phone out to call Rebecca.

"Is he there?" He asked, straight to the point.

"Who?" Rebecca asked, the tone of Charles's voice was getting her back up already.

"Your new boyfriend." He could hardly bring himself to say the words. The idea of that man being there with his son was almost too much to bear. He needed to talk to Rebecca, firstly to find out what the hell she'd been saying and secondly to make her realise what a mistake she was making.

"No." She snapped, although she had to admit she did kind of enjoy the way Charles was so upset about the fact she'd moved on- it had been unexpected given how quickly he'd found Molly and moved on himself. She didn't really see how he could have a problem with it.

"I'm coming over. I'll see you in ten minutes."

He'd hung up the phone before she had a chance to ask why, but she knew after spending all those years married to him that he was angry about something, so the odds were it wasn't going to be good.

He'd marched straight in without knocking, Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen table and didn't even look surprised. She'd made him a coffee and was just sitting there waiting for him to turn up. "Come on then, what is it this time?" She sighed as he sat down opposite her.

"Where is he?" Charles asked. He'd been braced ready to come face to face with Molly's Captain, spending most of the drive over there reminding himself of all of the reasons why it wasn't a good idea to punch him, no matter how tempting it was.

"He said he'd got to go away for a few days, something to do with work. Sam was really upset. He loves Danny." She couldn't help herself but get a little dig in there. It worked, she saw Charles tighten his grip on his mug just a fraction as she said it.

"We need to talk about him." Charles frowned.

"Daddy!" Sam came running into the kitchen and threw himself at Charles.

"Hey!" Charles was momentarily distracted, he hadn't seen enough of Sam recently with everything that had happened and he'd really missed him. "I've missed you."

"Can you come and help me with my lego?" Sam asked, jumping down and grabbing Charles by the hand.

"In a minute." Charles promised. "I just need to talk to Mummy for a minute, you go and I'll come and find you." Sam was halfway out of the door again before he had a chance to finish.

"What is this all about Charles?" Rebecca sighed. "I'm happy, so is Sam. You've got Molly, I really don't see what your problem is."

"How long have you got?" Charles asked sarcastically.

"You left me if you remember, you don't get to come back and try and stop me moving on!" Rebecca snapped. "You went off on that tour, left me to sort everything out and managed to replace me before you'd even finished the tour! You can't even begin to lecture me."

"You know it wasn't like that." He sighed. They were about to end up having the same argument they'd had a hundred times before and that wasn't why he was there. "I'm trying to look out for you and Sam, that's all."

She snorted with laughter. "Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that one before. Come on then, let's hear it!"

"He tried it on with Molly on tour! Do you really want to be sitting here while he's away wondering who he's screwing this time?" He hissed, trying to keep his voice down so Sam wouldn't hear him.

"You're sure about that are you?" Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charles asked angrily.

"Well, I'm just saying that Danny said that she came on to him.. And she has got a bit of a history of this sort of thing, I mean let's not forget that you were her Captain once." He could see her trying to hide a smirk.

"That's not what happened. What happened with me and Molly, that was different." He argued.

"Why because that's what she says?" Rebecca asked. "Because how do you know that she's telling the truth and you're not just believing what you want to?"

"Because there is no way Molly would lie to me about something like this!" She was winding him up, he'd forgotten how good she'd gotten at doing that over the years. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "A man died Rebecca, someone's son was shot and killed because he was too busy playing mind games to do his fucking job."

"Geraint died on your watch. His brother got shot while he was in your command. You managed to get yourself shot too." Rebecca commented. "Did you hear me accusing you of being negligent? No. So why do you get to do that to him?"

"Because he-"

"Let me stop you there. You weren't there, neither was I and neither was Major Beck. It's her word against his, and we probably won't ever know what actually happened out there. Beck obviously isn't 100% sure or he would've done something wouldn't he? I'm surprised he didn't find a way to screw Danny over anyway just to keep you happy- I know what you two are like." She stood up to put her mug in the sink, turning to face him and leaning against the kitchen counter. "You need to let it go Charles."

"I'm not going to stand back and wait for him to do this again to someone else. I got Molly back in one piece, just about, but she could easily have been killed because of him."

"Well." She sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He frowned.

"Exactly what it sounds like. You know he's not going to sit back and let you destroy his career just because he upset your girlfriend." Rebecca shrugged. "And if you're going to try and make me pick a side, then I think I've made it pretty clear where I stand."

"You can't be serious!" Charles couldn't believe what she'd just said.

"I think you'd better go, don't you?" She suggested.

"I told Sam I'd-"

She cut him off. "I'll tell him you had to go, he'll understand." She opened the door, holding it as she waited for him to leave.


	21. Chapter 21

She hadn't been able to hide her lack of enthusiasm when Danny had come home with the tickets for a charity ball in aid of Help for Heroes. It wasn't that she didn't want to go- she'd lost count of the amount of times she'd been to the event with Charles over the years and they'd always had a great time. She wasn't sure if her desire to not go was to do with the fact she knew she was bound to run into Charles there or the fact that she didn't actually want to have to go with Danny. Maybe a combination of both?

He'd refused to take no for an answer, they'd had their first proper argument about it, and he'd told her she was going with him even if he had to drag her. She'd still been more than a little annoyed with him for that when she'd then found out he'd taken the liberty of booking a babysitter for Sam without asking her. She'd lost it with him again, but he'd just completely ignored her again.

He'd ordered her this awful dress to wear too, bright red and she'd quickly realised when she put it on it was sticking to her in all the wrong places. She'd argued that she had plenty of dresses of her own to wear. She'd accumulated a lot of them over the years she'd been with Charles. That had only made him angry again, and by this point she was all but convinced the only reason he was so insistent on going was that he wanted to rub their newfound relationship in her ex-husband's face. More fool him, Charles couldn't give a shit about her any more. Especially not after what she'd said to him the other night.

She didn't know why she'd said it in the first place. Even after everything that had happened with Charles and their divorce they'd managed to stay civil. Well, she did know what had happened. She'd been listening to Danny going on and on for weeks about how Charles and Molly were out to get him, she'd let him get inside her head. She'd been so convinced that he had to be telling the truth and she'd sided with him even though she hadn't actually got a clue what was supposed to have gone on, but now the doubts were starting to get in.

She'd picked up his phone the other day, looking for a picture he'd taken of Sam when they'd taken him to the park, and she'd stumbled on a text he'd sent to Molly. _I win_. Two words, but those two words had been enough to plant the seed of doubt. After that initial bit of doubt had started to creep in everything he said she questioned, but she still wasn't sure why.

She'd thought about trying to bring it up, to ask him what was going on and give him a chance to give her a perfectly innocent explanation, but she knew he was going to get angry- especially if he thought she'd been going through his phone. So instead she'd put on the bloody dress, painted on a smile and braced herself ready to spend the evening mixing with a load of people who probably hated her for leaving Charles. It was about as far away from her idea of a good evening as she could imagine.

She knew Molly and Charles had arrived from the possessive way his arm went around her waist, her whole body stiffening as he pulled her closer into his side. She had to fight the urge to push him away. She tried to turn her attention back to the incredibly dull conversation he was having with one of the other officers that she did sort of recognise from somewhere.

* * *

"Three hours, tops." Charles whispered in her ear as they walked in under the huge balloon arch that had been put up in the doorway of the marquee. "Show our faces and have some food and then we can go. I promise."

Molly nodded silently, her grip on his hand tightening as they walked in. She'd never been a fan of things like this, she always felt a bit of a place no matter how much of an effort Charles made to try and make her feel included, and the added bonus of seeing her former Captain and his ex-wife there was just a step too far.

She seemed to have lost the ability to say no though, as often seemed to be the case with Charles. So she'd let him take her shopping for a dress, and tried to ignore the fact that she felt like she was going to throw up in the car on the way there. She knew he'd been looking forward to this and she didn't want to ruin it for him. Besides, he was right- she couldn't hide from her Captain forever.

They'd been there about half an hour, and she'd quickly downed two glasses of champagne in an attempt to give herself some confidence, when Charles had squeezed her hand and leant towards her.

"Don't panic but they're coming over." He said quietly in her ear. She could feel his whole body go tense beside her. She gave his hand a small squeeze in return, repeatedly telling herself that it was going to be fine and she could do this. She was going to have to because there was no way she could run away in the stupid heels she'd crammed her feet into.

"Dawes, Charles." Walsh grinned at them as he came to a stop in front of them. Rebecca had turned the same shade of red as her dress and Molly couldn't help but notice the way she kept trying to peel his hand off her waist at every opportunity.

"Daniel." Charles couldn't hide his grimace. "Rebecca." He did manage a polite smile in her direction, after all he might not agree with any of this but she was still the mother of his child. She looked far from happy about the situation anyway- he couldn't help but wonder if she was finally coming to her senses. He'd spotted Major Beck headed in their direction and he said a silent prayer that he was headed over to rescue him and Molly from this rather awkward situation.

There was an awkward silence for a moment where Molly wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Then the awkward small talk had started and that had been even worse than the silence.

She unwound her fingers from Charles' hand. "I'm going to go to the loo." She said quietly. She gave him a look that was clearly a warning not to do anything stupid.

"I'll come with you." Rebecca said quickly. Molly could've sworn the look that crossed her face was almost relief as she followed after her. "I think you and I need five minutes to talk." Rebecca added as soon as they were out of earshot of the men.

Molly felt her stomach flip again and suddenly regretted having those drinks on an empty stomach. "I think so." She agreed quietly.

She couldn't help but wonder what on earth Rebecca could possibly have to say to her, but she was curious to say the least.


	22. Chapter 22

She was halfway through the door to the toilets when Rebecca had grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into a quiet corner by the doors. Molly pulled her arm free from her grip, spinning around to face her. She'd been hoping that Rebecca would give her five minutes to go to the loo first but apparently they were doing this right now. She could just see the top of Charles' head through the crowd of people beginning to gather.

"What do you want then?" Molly asked, looking questioningly at Rebecca. She crossed her arms and waited for whatever it was Rebecca was struggling to spit out.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked quietly. She was looking down at her feet, avoiding looking Molly in the eye, and she looked just as uncomfortable as Molly felt at the question. "You know, in Afghanistan. With you and Danny."

"I'm sure he's told you all about it." Molly answered her sarcastically. There was nothing she wanted to less than have his conversation, especially not with Rebecca.

"He did." Rebecca nodded quietly. "He told me all about it and I believed every word he said. I think I probably wanted to because I so, so wanted a reason to hate you."

"Why?"

"Because I've seen the way Charles looks at you." Rebecca shrugged. "It's the way he used to look at me, a long time ago. And Sam, he thinks you walk on water. I was jealous and I think I just wanted to believe there was something wrong with you, that I could hate you and not feel stupid for it." Her cheeks flushed again and she shifted uncomfortably.

"I… um… thanks for being honest." Molly was a bit taken aback by quite how brutally honest she'd been. She hadn't been expecting it. "What did he tell you?"

Rebecca cleared her throat, fiddling with her clutch bag nervously. "That you'd come on to him. Several times actually. That you kept trying to say if he did you a favour you'd do him one if you get my drift. Said you were only with Charles to try and help your career. That you were probably sleeping with half the army from what he'd heard."

"He bloody wishes." Molly muttered under her breath.

"That's the problem, I think he does." Rebecca answered quietly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly was trying to ignore the way the words made her skin crawl.

"I just… I don't know." Rebecca grimaced. "I wanted to believe he loved me. He said all the right things and he was so great with Sam, but… well I don't know… just some of the stuff he says sometimes. It feels like he's only with me because he thinks it's going to upset Charles." She couldn't believe she'd actually just admitted that out loud. It was humiliating.

"I don't understand." Molly mumbled. Her head was reeling trying to take all the information in. What did any of this even mean?

"He kept saying all this stuff about how Charles didn't know what he was missing. I thought it was nice at the time, like he actually cared about me and appreciated me." God she was going to need another drink to get through this. She glanced around hoping there'd be a waiter passing but she was out of luck. "But it was like when he realised that Charles wasn't interested in what I was doing he lost his interest in me a bit. Then he suddenly reappeared and he wanted to take me out at and do all this stuff with Sam. I didn't even realise until earlier he was just using Sam to get at Charles instead since it wasn't working using me."

"I'm so sorry Rebecca." Molly smiled softly. "I should've warned you."

"I wouldn't have listened." Rebecca shrugged. "It's my own fault. And now I'm stood here in this god awful dress trying to work out quite how I'm going to get rid of him without him causing a scene."

"I'll talk to Charles. We'll sort something out." Molly promised.

"You never did tell me what happened?" Rebecca reminded her.

Molly pulled a face. "I think you already know. He was just there all the time, flirting. He kept making all these comments about me and Charles and trying to turn everyone against me because I was with a Captain. He didn't like the fact I kept turning him down." She skimmed over the details. Rebecca didn't need to hear it all.

"I'm so sorry Molly." Rebecca shook her head.

"It's not your fault-"

"Rebecca? I wasn't expecting you to be here!" They both spun to look at Major Beck who'd appeared from somewhere. "Oh and Molly too! It's lovely to see you both."

Molly said a quick hello, then made her excuses and disappeared of into the toilets.

"Are you here on your own or….?" Major Beck asked, leaving Rebecca squirming uncomfortably. She didn't want to answer that question.

"No." She said slowly. "I'm here with Danny Walsh."

He didn't manage to catch the look of surprise mixed with horror that crossed his face. "Oh… well I have to say that's a surprise."

She struggled to hide her grimace. "I didn't know about what happened with him and Molly at the time. I-"

He shook his head. "You don't have to try and justify yourself, especially not to me." He smiled kindly. He'd been a little sad when he'd found out about Charles and Rebecca. He'd always liked them. "I don't think any of us will ever really know what happened anyway." He added.

"Speak of the devil." Rebecca muttered, rolling her eyes. She'd just spotted him threading his way through the crowds like a mad man trying to get to her.

"Sir." He greeted his boss pleasantly. "If you'll excuse me I need to steal this one away for a moment." She didn't have a chance to argue, his tight grip on the top of her am meant she didn't have any choice other than to go with him as he hauled her outside. She shot a look at Major Beck, pleading for him to step in. She didn't think she'd ever seen Danny this angry before.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He spat, his face inches from hers as he cornered her against the fence. "If you think I'm going to let you try and help her destroy my career you've got another thing coming. I'll take you down with them if I have to."

"She's not trying to destroy your career!" Rebecca couldn't help herself. She didn't think he'd actually have it in him to hurt her, at least she hoped not. "She told me what you did to her!"

He snorted with laughter. "You might believe her but no one else will. Be real Rebecca- who is going to believe someone like her over a highly respected Captain like me?" He laughed in her face.

"Me."

His whole body froze and the laughter stopped immediately. He didn't need to turn around and look to see that Major Beck was standing right behind him. Rebecca struggled to hide the grin that was playing on the edge of her lips. She wanted to scream in his face that this was what karma was for.

"I think you'd better step away and let Rebecca enjoy her evening Captain Walsh." His voice was stern and authoritative. Rebecca was just aware of Charles and Molly in the entrance to the marquee as Danny took a step back and she darted away from him, shooting a thankful look at Major Beck.

"Are you okay?" Charles asked.

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

He waived his hand dismissively. "Do you think I should…" he nodded in the direction of Beck.

Rebecca shook her head. "No, I think he's got this covered."


	23. Chapter 23

"But Danny promised he'd take me to the park!" Sam complained, throwing his toast back down on the plate and glaring at her. "You're rubbish, why isn't Danny here! I want to go to the park!"

"Sam." Rebecca bit her lip trying to think of something to say. Sam had been relentless all morning wanting to know where Danny had gone and she hadn't been able to come up with a single good reason to tell him. She could hardly tell him the truth. "He's not here okay. I will take you to the park later but I need you to just eat your breakfast and do as you're told." She sighed.

It was a relief to see Charles and Molly coming up the driveway, as embarrassed as she felt that she'd let herself get sucked in, she knew she owed Charles an explanation and there was no way he was not going to want to talk about what happened.

"Daddy!" Sam was up out of his chair the second the door opened. Molly followed Charles in awkwardly. "Daddy can you take me to the park? Mummy is boring!" Rebecca grimaced at Molly as he said the words.

"How about you show me some of that new Lego you got?" Molly suggested, kicking her shoes off. "I think your Mum and Dad need a few minutes."

"Thank you." Rebecca mouthed, Molly disappeared into the living room after Sam and closed the door behind them.

Charles turned to face her, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the kitchen counter. He looked at her expectantly for a moment. "Well?" He prompted when she didn't speak. "I'm going to need something Rebecca, whatever you said or he thinks you said he was going to ruin mine and Molly's careers over it! You let him into your home with our son. I need to know why."

She busied herself making them all a coffee that she knew none of them would drink. She just needed to be doing something to distract herself from the weight of his gaze. "I don't know." She mumbled. "I didn't even know who he was to start with. I ran into him at the coffee shop near Sam's school and he was so nice… I don't know, I guess he just made me feel special. I mean there's not really been anyone since we… y'know… and watching you and Molly, I guess I was a bit jealous? I wanted that too."

Charles stared at her for a minute, not really sure what to say. He hadn't been expecting her to say that. Rebecca hadn't exactly been thrilled about him and Molly in the beginning, but she'd started to warm to Molly more as time had gone on- or at least he thought. Maybe he'd been wrong.

"And?" He sighed. He wasn't really sure he wanted to hear this but he needed to know what had happened. He wanted to make sure Rebecca and Sam were going to be safe.

"He didn't even tell me he was in the army to start with, I probably would've run a mile if he had, but even after that he didn't mention he knew you." She pulled at her hair, feeling uncomfortable. "I know I screwed up okay. I shouldn't ever have let him get in my head."

"You weren't to know I suppose." Charles sighed, his hands pulling at his hair. "I did try and warn you though."

"I know." She admitted sheepishly. "I just thought you didn't want me to be happy."

"I think we're passed all that now aren't we?" He looked surprised.

"Yeah, I know." She looked down the floor. "I don't know what I was thinking… I am sorry Charles, really."

"You don't have to apologise." He smiled.

"What am I supposed to tell Sam?" She asked, her voice hushed. "He's been going on and on all morning and I can hardly tell him the truth can I?"

Charles was quiet for a moment. "Just take him to the park or whatever. You know what's he's like, it'll be like that time he insisted he wanted a hamster for weeks and then lost interest in two days. He'll forget all about him in a couple of days."

"I guess." She sighed. "Thank you, for coming over and giving me a chance to explain. I really am sorry."

"It's okay, you don't have to keep apologising." He glanced up at the clock. "We need to get going, I've got to go and meet Major Beck in an hour to find out what's going to happen now."

"Can you call me later and let me know?" She asked.

He nodded, sticking his head round the door to signal to Molly they needed to get a move on. "Yeah of course. Call me if you need anything okay?" Molly stood beside him putting her shoes back on, calling goodbye to Sam who was engrossed in his Lego.

"I will, thanks." She answered softly, moving to close the door behind them as they left. She did a quick double take, thinking she'd heard a rustle in the bushes that lined the drive, but she couldn't see anything and quickly convinced herself that it must be the wind.

* * *

He stood behind the bushes that lined the driveway, watching as Charles and Molly climbed back into the car. They were laughing, and he felt the rage twist in his stomach again at the thought that they were laughing about him. They thought they'd won.

He watched as the car pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the road. He turned his attention back to Rebecca. She was standing in the kitchen window, probably washing up by the looks of it. She looked happy, without him. He hadn't missed the look of relief on her face when Major Beck had turned up at the ball, as though she'd been pleased to get rid of him. He dialled her number, watching angrily as she sent his call straight to voicemail.

If they thought he was going to just walk away and let them all move on with their lives after they'd destroyed his then they were just as stupid as they looked.


End file.
